We are running the Oxford Half Marathon on October 15th for Style Acre because of their great work in supporting special needs in Oxfordshire.

Patrick and myself ran the race last year and everyone's kind donations resulted in us raising over £6,500 for this great organisation. We are doing it again this Sunday, and we are joined by Patrick's good friends, Sam Roberts, Rob Forster and Ant Hudson.

We are acutely aware of reaching out to everyone again one year on, but if you could just donate just a few pounds this time around, we would be most grateful. Hope will be there again this year, cheering us all on, along with many friends and family. Further below, I have again shared the fuller context of the great work that Styleacre do throughout Oxfordshire, and the wonderful support they have provided for Hope over the past few years.

Many thanks

Pete, Patrick, Sam, Rob & Ant

Many of you will know of our daughter, Hope, who is 29 years old, and is a beacon of life, love and fun. Karen, myself, and the boys, love her to bits, and we are so very proud of her. Hope also happens to have Down's Syndrome and severe learning difficulties, which requires her to have 24 hour supervision and support. Hope now lives independently from us, about half an hour away, just outside Oxford, albeit she is back seeing and staying with us every couple of weeks. She shares a house with 3 other young people, all of whom are severely autistic. The house, and their day to day lives, is run by Styleacre, a wonderful charity which supports 288 people like Hope, all over Oxford. Their vision is;

To work with others to create communities where people with learning disabilities and Autism are valued as equals and given every opportunity to fulfil their potential and live the life they choose.

This is exactly what they have been providing for Hope for the past 8 years, and as a result, she is living the most wonderful life, being her own person, developing and growing every day. They enable her to take pride in her daily chores of cooking, cleaning, shopping and going to the bank, as well as having great fun at clubs, the cinema, theatre, restaurants, and keeping herself fit at the gym, and working on a farm. They employ the most wonderfully skilled, loyal and caring staff, who not only take such great care of Hope, but also become her best friends.

We can never thank styleacre and their people enough, but it would be great if we could raise a few pounds to enable them to continue, and hopefully extend their great work