Hello! I'll be running the Prague marathon on 4 May to raise funds for the Watson's Malawi Partnership (WMP). Conscious that every man and his dog is doing a marathon these days, but let me explain why I'm doing it.

As many of you will know, my mum, Belinda (B-Dawg to her friends) passed away a little over 5 years ago. She was a huge inspiration to my family and me, and since her untimely passing we have sought to honour her legacy through Netball for All, an initiative that seeks to empower women and girls in Malawi through sport. The initiative has been more successful than we could have hoped; we've sponsored the construction of two netball courts in and around the Lilongwe area, supported three fantastic teams (the Kalulu Queens, Belinda Sisters, and Ndaula Sisters), and seen these players go on to achieve great things, both in netball and beyond. The initiative has now been fully integrated into the WMP, allowing the support to continue long into the future.

All that being said, the situation in Malawi is really tough. Overseas aid is being cut, and the cost of living has risen massively due to climate change-induced drought and currency devaluation. WMP's work is more important than ever, and as we saw when we went in October 2023, it has a massive impact on people's lives, with relatively small amounts being transformative. WMP supports amazing projects, including:

- the award-winning work of Achikondi and Koche clinic, which provides life-saving neo natal and family planning services to villagers who live far from the city hospitals

- Open Arms, which takes care of abandoned babies and provides vital infant feeding programmes in villages like Nomala

- Bolera Palm: Thom's Colourful Classroom and Malawi Children's Village provide critical primary and secondary education and vocational training to children who would otherwise go without

- Netties and Trinipads who distribute reusable sanitary pads to help keep more girls in school for longer

- Godknows and Helen who provide a home and vocational training to the many children they have rescued from people trafficking.

- Zomba TREEZ and Mulanje Conservation Trust who are running successful reforestation programmes to combat the damage from climate change and poaching.

- And of course ongoing support for the Netball for All initiative

You can read more about WMP's focus areas (Education, Health and Wellbeing, Sport and Culture, and the Environment) here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjYufaGspuMAxUUUEEAHdKTMHMQFnoECAsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.google.com%2Fview%2Fwatsonsmalawipartnership%2Fhome&usg=AOvVaw1dzrIVDAn48UGf46mVs2hq&opi=89978449.

So thanks for listening to my TED talk. Any contributions, big or small, would be greatly appreciated and will make those 26.1 miles go by a bit easier.