Thanks for taking the time to visit our SEPIA fundraising page.

Aaron and I are raising funds to buy basic stationery for the schools SEPIA are supporting in the eastern region of Ghana. This is part of the ongoing ‘One Book, One Pen ‘ campaign which aims to ensure that every child has a basic kit consisting of, at least, one book and one pen when starting the school year. Previously, we have also tried to add pencils, an eraser and a ruler to our primary kits and a ruler and calculator to our secondary ones. SEPIA are currently working with 4 primary and 4 secondary schools in and around NewTafo. At current prices in Ghana we estimate that a donation of £20 would enable us to kit out 10 primary pupils or 2 secondary pupils. In addition we would like to supply each school with some basic sports equipment, such as footballs, volleyballs and a netballs. A £30 donation would allow us to provide one of each for a class.

That’s the important bit but for a bit of light entertainment here is the back story to explain how all this came about!

Nearly a year ago, in a moment of unrealistic enthusiasm, I entered both Aaron and myself into the 2026 London Marathon ballot. We have tried this before and, with some relief, received rejection notifications a few months later. I didn’t even tell Aaron as our past success rate was so poor. But then…..in August 2025 I received an e mail, it said congratulations on gaining a place! I contacted Aaron and explained what I’d done and lo and behold a day later he received a congratulations e mail. We had both been accepted. Aaron had an achilles tendon injury and unbeknownst to me I was shortly going to develop an appendicitis! So we needed something we both could focus on to help us with, at least 6 months of training and a 26.2 mile race! Well, 6 months training turned into 5 months which then became 4 months! Turns out that trying to fit in 3, or in Aaron’s case, 4 runs a week is quite tricky and very tiring! We’ve both had a few interruptions with our training but with just over 5 weeks now to go we’ve decided there’s no turning back and hence the release of our fundraising page! This is now our focus and the thing that will make us go out and train come rain or shine! So if you’ve got a spare 50p or even £50 please consider helping us to give the children in these Ghanaian schools a small boost which might just help them to gain a basic education and hopefully a better chance in life!

Thanks. 😊