On the 27th April Andrew and I will be running the London Marathon in aid of White Lodge! I'm really proud to be a patron and to be fundraising for White Lodge, here's why...

What White Lodge means to me

I first arrived at White Lodge in 1976, aged two with limited mobility & a bowl cut. I received daily physio, learned to walk up the ‘mountain’ (in reality a slight slope), climb the wooden steps, & spent a great deal of time in the hydro pool, playing with the toys & not realising that I was working very hard. In short, White Lodge was my warm & welcoming world when I was little.

I attended school at White Lodge until I was accepted into mainstream school & it remained central to my treatment right the way into my adulthood. I have the happiest memories & highest admiration for the staff & all the incredible work they do.

The picture at the top is me handing over my first-ever fundraising for White Lodge. The local pub landlord lived up a tree for a week, while I did a sponsored silence. Anyone who knows me, will tell you how impossible that must have been!

When I go back to visit & see the ‘mountain’, I’m reminded just how far I’ve come & the crucial part White Lodge played in getting me here. From helping to provide me with the tools & belief to stand on the start-line at the London Paralympics, to being such a super charity supporter of my Superhero Series. Now it is time to give something back!

My mission for White Lodge

I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I have decided to do my first – & last! – marathon to raise much-needed funds for the amazing work White Lodge does & to say a huge thank you!

This is so very far out of my comfort zone that I have waited until I know that I can walk 20km (half the distance) before posting this. I may be a Paralympian (very retired!) , but I am a sprinter, so it feels as if I am standing at the foot of a very large mountain once more! The quickest marathon achieved by someone with my disability is 7 hours & 5 mins. I hope to be able to go a little quicker than this, but mainly the goal is to finish & be able to walk at the end. It is going to hurt. A lot.

Someone who has been by my side through the many hours of gruelling training & will also be with me, step for step, on the day, is Andrew, my perfect (poor) Sidekick. We really hope you will give generously.

Our goal is to raise as much money as we can to help White Lodge deliver vital hydrotherapy and sensory sessions in their newly refubished hydropool. This amazing facility helped me when I needed it most and we want to give other children and adults the strength and confidence for future development. Water provides a pathway to physical, emotional and social development for people of all abilities. Every £1,000 raised will help power the pool and support 22 one-to-one hydrotherapy sessions. Please help Andrew and I raise over £10,000 and make a significant difference to people's lives. I know that this is a huge target but if someone else can get the opportunities that I have, it will be worth the noises that I now make every time I stand up, sit down, bend over, in fact do anything at all. P.S Andrew is making a lot more fuss than I am!

Please sponsor us if you can and thank you for reading my story ❤

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