I'm proud to be running the London Landmarks Half Marathon 2025 for The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. As many of you will know, my lovely little Margo suffers from multiple allergies and recently suffered an anaphylactic reaction where we had to administer epi pens and spend time in hospital. Having a child with life threatening food allergies is extremely stressful and worrying, simple things like eating out and food shopping are so complicated as I check every label and ingredient and put my trust in others to not contaminate her food with something that could cause her harm. Her situation is so complex because she has so many allergies - she is allergic to nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, sesame, lentils, chickpea, pea protein, soya protein, kiwi, pumpkin, cherries, dustmites and even dogs. Every time the school rings, I panic and don’t like to be far from her in case of a reaction because you literally never know how bad the reaction could be. Margo also suffers from eczema and asthma, both common alongside allergies, but she amazes me how she deals them all. She is so so brave so the least I can do is run a few miles and get a few blisters in comparison to the sacrifices she has to make. I worry for Margo’s future all the time as there are sadly multiple examples of children and young people dying as a result of anaphylactic reactions after being served the wrong foods, including Natasha. The charity set up in her name by her wonderful parents has made great strides in raising awareness and making the world a safer place for those with allergies but there is so much more to be done. Allergies are not a joke, they should not be mocked and I’d like to do more to ensure everyone takes them as seriously as they should.

Through campaigning, education and research, the charity’s mission is to #MakeAllergyHistory. Starting with food allergy, they want to create a world that is safe for everyone.

I would be so grateful for any donations to my fundraising page as this is a cause close to my heart and really means a lot to me.

Any contribution you can make, no matter how big or small, will make a vital difference to the Natasha Foundation’s work to #MakeAllergyHistory.

Thank you for your support!

Lucy

xx