As most people who know me will tell you, I’ve never really been much of a runner. So, what I’m about to say might come as a bit of a surprise — I’m doing the London Marathon 2026.

After entering the ballot for the last eight years (it always makes you feel good signing up, but even better when you get that “unfortunately you’ve not been picked” email), I’ve finally had the message I’ve been waiting for — I’ve got a place!

At first, this was just a personal challenge to get fitter and healthier. But now that training has started — and since I’ll only ever be doing this once — I’ve decided to run for a couple of charities that mean a lot to me and my family.

🏃‍♂️ The first is The Pear Tree Fund in Halesworth. (The Pear Tree Centre - The Pear Tree Fund) The Pear Tree Centre is a warm and welcoming one-stop service offering support, information, counselling, and benefits advice to anyone diagnosed with a life-changing illness.

🧡 The second is Headstart 4 babies (Raising awareness of plagiocephaly and brachycephaly in the UK | Headstart4Babies) is a charity that supported us when our son Veer was born with flat head syndrome. He needed a helmet, which wasn’t available through the NHS, so we had to go private. Their help made a huge difference to us, and I’d love to give something back to help other families in the same situation.

Hopefully I can raise a bit to support both causes. I won’t flood social media with every run, but I’ll share the occasional update as training goes on.

I’ll post my fundraising page below — any support would mean a lot and will definitely help keep me going through the miles ahead.

I had to set up two pages for the difference charities, try to keep funds as equal as possible.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.