RUNNING FOR THE CHILD I ONCE WAS

On 25 April 2027, I'll be standing on the start line of the TCS London Marathon as part of #TeamNSPCC.

For many people, running a marathon is about achieving a personal goal. For me, it's something much bigger. I'm running because every child deserves someone to listen, someone to protect them, and someone to believe them.

APPEARING TO COPE

As a child, from 7 to sixteen, I experienced abuse, neglect and instability that no child should have to endure. Looking back, I can recognise at least eight medically recognised forms of childhood trauma. It was a world of fear, emotional neglect, bullying, gaslighting, parentification and constantly feeling responsible for problems that were never mine to solve.

Like many children growing up in those circumstances, I learnt to survive by keeping my feelings to myself. I became good at appearing to cope while quietly carrying anxiety, hypervigilance and a deep sense that there was nowhere safe to turn.

For years I was simply told to "move on", "stop asking questions" and "get over it". But feelings don't disappear because they're ignored. They wait.

HOW I MADE IT THROUGH

Despite everything, I found reasons to keep going.

Helping friends, writing, music, humour, yoga, fitness and eventually long-distance running all became ways of rebuilding myself. They didn't erase the past, but they helped me discover resilience I never knew I had.

Recovery from complex trauma is rarely a straight line. There are setbacks, detours and moments when it feels like you've gone backwards. But every step still counts.

BLINDSIDING HEALTH SETBACK

In recent years I faced another very unexpected challenge.

A combination of chronic fatigue, repeated injuries, gout, burnout and ultimately NSAID enteropathy led to severe internal bleeding. I was admitted to hospital dangerously anaemic and required seven blood transfusions during two weeks at St George's Hospital.

Suddenly I went from trying to stay fit to relearning how to walk confidently along hospital corridors.

It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Thankfully, with outstanding medical care, determination and support, I recovered. Today my blood tests are back to normal and I'm stronger than I've been for a long time.

FROM HIKING BACK TO RUNNING

After leaving hospital I began again from almost nothing.

I returned to Cuckmere Haven, where I had already been using gentle hikes to challenge my agoraphobia. Week by week I walked a little further, gradually teaching my mind that not every alarm signal meant danger.

Eventually those walks became hikes across the Seven Sisters. The hikes became runs. My confidence slowly returned.

Although injury prevented me from completing the Weald Challenge Half Marathon in 2026, it proved something far more important: I was recovering.

Today I'm stronger, healthier and excited about what lies ahead.

WHY THE NSPCC

When I was growing up, I often wished there had been somewhere safe and trusted to turn.

Childline didn't yet exist in the way it does today, and speaking openly about childhood trauma was far less accepted than it is now. There were times when I genuinely felt frightened, alone and unheard. That's why supporting the NSPCC means so much to me.

The charity gives children something I desperately needed—a trusted voice, someone who listens without judgement, and the chance to be protected before a difficult childhood becomes a lifetime of consequences.

I'm not running because I want sympathy. I'm running because I want today's children to have opportunities that I never had.

ROAD TO LONDON 2027

This marathon is about far more than one day in April. It's a celebration of recovery, resilience and hope.

Over the next nine months I'll be sharing my Road to London 2027 journey—the training, the setbacks, the progress and everything in between.

I'm also planning a series of fundraising events that I hope many of you will join, hopefully including:

Sponsor a Mile – sponsor one of the 26.2 marathon miles; Game of Toads Charity Tournament, with prizes, raffles and fundraising; Brighton training run and social event, finishing at a local pub; Guess My Marathon Time competition; Plus more community fundraising events throughout the year.

HELP US REACH OUR TARGET

Ourfundraising target is £2,500, and every donation, no matter the size, will help the NSPCC continue protecting children who need someone to stand beside them.

Whether you choose to donate, attend an event, share this page or simply follow the journey, you'll be helping children who need support today.

People often say we should "move on" from difficult childhoods. But we simply learn to carry and set down the grief of having parents with their own warped version of nurturing.

By sharing my story, I hope to help ensure that fewer children have to carry the burdens that so many have carried before them.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and for the NSPCC. Together, we can help make sure every child has someone to turn to when they need it most.

Thank you so much for your support.

Jonny x