I’m so excited to be running the 2027 London Marathon on 24 April, a major bucket list moment made even more meaningful by the opportunity to support CCLG’s 'Live Kindly, Live Loudly Fund' in memory of my friend Ruby.

I was lucky enough to grow up with Ruby - our mums are best friends and we were born literally weeks apart. That special, long-standing friendship was sadly cut short when she passed away in 2020 aged 18. Despite 10 months of treatment, her non-Hodgkin lymphoma was too aggressive, and there was not yet enough research to save her.

That's why raising money for childhood and teenage cancer research is so important. So far, 'Live Kindly, Live Loudly' has funded five research projects at the Universities of Newcastle, Glasgow, Oxford and Birmingham - here's to 5+ more! You can read more about the fund here: https://specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/rubys-live-kindly-live-loudly-fund/

Ruby's final gift to everyone was her motto and commitment to living kindly, and loudly. This was something that she totally embodied and that we have all been trying to keep up ourselves in her memory. I'll be running very much in that spirit on April 24th - any donations are hugely appreciated.