2026 marks a decade since I lost my mum, Marie, to alcohol-related harm. Ten years that I've felt her absence every single day.

This year has been so full of joy and celebration, I married my wonderful wife Charlotte, the happiest day of my life but one where mums absence felt heavy.

In my speech I mentioned that with everything happening this year, I wanted to do something positive in her name. Sadness and reflection has had its time in the past 10 years, this year I choose to focus on the mum that I had and not what I lost.

So I'm running the Alcohol Change UK Marathon Challenge: two half marathons across two weekends. Starting with Cardiff on the 4th October and then the Royal Parks on Sunday 11th.

I've set myself a real stretch goal to push myself over a distance I have run before : Take 10 mins off my PB, a minute for every year I’ve missed with Mum. This currently sits at 1:51 from 2020 so anything from 1:41 under is the aim, training is tracking well well but with a honeymoon in the month before the first race it will be tight!

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Why Alcohol Change UK Matters

Every hour, someone in the UK dies as a result of alcohol. The harm spans mental and physical health, liver disease, cancer, economic hardship, and fractures families and communities.

My Mum’s story isn’t unique. More than 20 people die every day from alcohol-related causes in the UKyet the stigma around alcohol harm means many suffer in silence, and support isn’t always accessible.

Alcohol Change UK is the leading UK alcohol charity, independent and entirely focused on reducing alcohol harm. They campaign for policy change, train professionals, and run campaigns like Dry January and Alcohol Awareness Week that help millions change their relationship with alcohol. Crucially, they don’t accept funding from the alcohol industry, which means they can tell the truth about alcohol harm freely. Not anti-alcohol : Pro Alcohol Change.