If you're attentive and you look early in the morning or last thing at night you will see that homelessness is a big problem. People find themselves homeless for lots of different reasons and it's very hard to know exactly how to help.

One very good way is to support the Oxford Poverty Action Trust. OxPAT collects money and then distributes it to homeless charities. The money given has to be applied for by case workers so it's used in the most effective way to try and make homelessness bearable.

Giving to OxPAT is, I think, much more effective than just giving money as you pass by because so much of that can get lost on drink and drugs and things that make the day seem a bit less painful.

To try and raise a little bit of money I'm running this half marathon with my son, Thomas. I have done half marathons before but the last one was a little while ago and I'm not getting any younger!

Please check out the OxPAT web page; you can see what they do.

And please consider supporting us on this run.

John and Thomas

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.