TL;DR I'm running a half marathon for a very good cause. I will die. ☠️ Please donate. 🙏🏻

During the summer I was at Stendhal Festival, which if you've not come across it is a Northern Irish music festival that showcases local musical talent of all levels.

While I was there, I got involved with a charity called Help Musicians. As you probably know if you've met me, I'm a great supporter of grass roots music and venues, and Help Musicians has been working hard for over 100 years now to support musicians across the UK to succeed through the inevitable times of hardship.

What really grabbed me was how many of the musicians playing at Stendhal made a point of visiting the Help Musicians stand just to say "thank you" for the help they'd received. From the stories I heard, without Help Musicians a good proportion of the festival performers simply wouldn't have been there.

So anyway, I'm taking part in this year's Belfast Half Marathon (which is a fair old distance given I only started Couch to 5K during lockdown), and I'm hoping that the pain in my lungs, knees and hips will be enough to exchange for your generous donations to a truly excellent cause.

Thank you! ❤️