Donation page for Brighton to Worthing Half Marathon Training Club and London Marathon 2027 - Please shout out who your donation is for...

CALLING BUDDING BRIGHTON RUNNERS

We are on insta: https://www.instagram.com/halfmarathontrainingclub/

Every Sunday from 16th August to Sunday 13th December 2026 we are proposing a plucky team of new and seasoned-ish runners to begin a FREE once-a-week training programme culminating in an epic seafront half-marathon. We have started with three here: Evie, Ava and Lily.

Interested? Please get in touch jonnywills@hotmail.com

It's free: We just ask you to invite sponsors where all proceeds go to the NSPCC via this page, which will help for motivation, commitment and grounding.It can be new fitness kick, a way to get in shape for Christmas, a way to meet some fun new people and learn how to make running easier.

Provisionally we have had agreement for the idea from The Hand in Hand pub in Kemptown which will serve as our meeting point HQ every Sunday at 10am.

We will be running at talking pace or Zone 2 and not running for hectic race times, unless there are those on the day that want to do that. We encourage a 'leave no runner behind' mindset, although stronger runners are welcome to push on. We will focused on the achievenent of distance and the discipline getting out there in all weathers on mostly cycle-lane surface and pavement.

Training starts by meeting 10am prompt for just after. Starting with just 1 mile on 16 August, you'll gradually build your long run by increments every Sunday to 12.5 miles on 29 November, then taper with an easy 5-mile run the following week before completing the Pub2Pub 13.1-mile Half Marathon on Sunday 13 December 2026.

Training will be a mix of road and trail along the seafront. It will behove you to organise your own training schedule during the week to ready yourself doing the first mile and therefore after. Organiser Jonny can help. Here is the schedule:

DATE | DISTANCE

Sun 16 Aug | 1 mi / 1.6 km

Sun 23 Aug | 2 mi / 3.2 km

Sun 30 Aug | 3 mi / 4.8 km

🟢 Sun 13 Sep — 5K

Sun 6 Sep | 4 mi / 6.4 km

Sun 20 Sep | 5 mi / 8.0 km

Sun 27 Sep | 6 mi / 9.7 km

🟢 Sun 4 Oct — 10K

Sun 11 Oct | 7.5 mi / 12.1 km

Sun 18 Oct | 8 mi / 12.9 km

Sun 25 Oct | 8.5mi / 13.6 km

Sun 1 Nov — 15K

Sun 8 Nov | 10 mi / 16.1 km

Sun 15 Nov | 11 mi / 17.7 km

🟢 Sun 22 Nov — 20K

🔵 Sun 29 Nov — LAST BIG RUN 12.5 mi / 20.1 km

Sun 6 Dec — TAPER 5 mi / 8.0 km

🏁 Sun 13 Dec — HALF MARATHON /13.1 mi / 21.1 km

The Hand in Hand to the Toad in the Hole Worthing

Jonny is the team organiser and him and the team are aiming to raise money for the NSPCC. Here is his story of what motivates him:

RUNNING FOR THE CHILD I ONCE WAS

On 25 April 2027, I'll be standing on the start line of the TCS London Marathon as part of #TeamNSPCC.

For many people, running a marathon is about achieving a personal goal. For me, it's about something much bigger. I'm running because every child deserves someone to listen, someone to protect them, and someone to believe them.

APPEARING TO COPE

From the age of seven to sixteen, I experienced abuse, neglect and instability that no child should have to endure. Looking back, I can recognise at least eight medically recognised forms of childhood trauma. It was a world of fear, emotional neglect, bullying, gaslighting and parentification.

Like many children growing up in those circumstances, I learnt to survive by keeping my feelings to myself. I became good at appearing to cope while quietly carrying anxiety, hypervigilance and a deep sense that there was nowhere safe to turn.

HOW I MADE IT THROUGH

Despite everything, I found reasons to keep going.

Writing, music, humour, yoga, fitness and eventually long-distance running became ways of rebuilding my life. They didn't erase the past, but they helped me discover resilience I never knew I had.

Recovery from complex trauma is rarely a straight line. There are setbacks, detours and moments when it feels as though you've gone backwards. But every step still counts.

A BLINDSIDING HEALTH SETBACK

In recent years I faced another unexpected challenge.

A combination of chronic fatigue, repeated injuries, gout, burnout and ultimately NSAID enteropathy caused by a reliance on Ibuprofen led to severe internal bleeding. I was admitted to St George's Hospital dangerously anaemic and required seven blood transfusions over two weeks.

Suddenly I went from trying to stay fit to relearning how to walk confidently along hospital corridors. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

Thanks to outstanding medical care, determination and the support of others, I gradually recovered.

FROM HIKING BACK TO RUNNING

Recovery took six months. After leaving hospital, I began again from almost nothing.

I returned to Cuckmere Haven and started walking again. Week by week I walked a little further, rebuilding both my confidence and my fitness.

Eventually those walks became hikes across the Seven Sisters. The hikes became runs.

Although injury prevented me from completing the Weald Challenge Half Marathon in 2026, it proved something far more important: I was recovering. Today my blood tests are back to normal, and I'm stronger and healthier than I've been for a long time. I'm excited about what lies ahead.

WHY THE NSPCC

When I was growing up, I often wished there had been somewhere safe and trusted to turn.

Childline didn't exist in the way it does today, and speaking openly about childhood trauma was far less accepted than it is now. There were times when I genuinely felt frightened, alone and unheard. That's why supporting the NSPCC means so much to me.

The NSPCC gives children something every child deserves: a trusted adult who listens, believes them and helps keep them safe before a difficult childhood becomes a lifetime of consequences.

I'm running because I want more children to grow up knowing that someone will listen, someone will believe them and someone will act. Every child deserves that chance.

ROAD TO LONDON 2027

This marathon is about far more than one day in April. It's a celebration of recovery, resilience and hope.

Over the next nine months I'll be sharing my Road to London 2027 journey—the training, the setbacks, the progress and everything in between.

I'm also planning a series of fundraising events that I hope many of you will join, hopefully including:

Sponsor a Mile – sponsor one of the 26.2 marathon miles.

Game of Toads Charity Tournament, with prizes, raffles and fundraising.

A Brighton training run and social event, finishing at a local pub.

Guess My Marathon Time competition.

More community fundraising events throughout the year.

HELP US REACH OUR TARGET

Our fundraising target is £2,500, and every donation, no matter the size, will help the NSPCC continue protecting children who need someone to stand beside them.

Whether you choose to donate, attend an event, share this page or simply follow the journey, you'll be helping children who need support today.

By sharing my story, I hope to help ensure that fewer children have to carry burdens that were never theirs to bear. Every child deserves the chance to grow up feeling safe, heard and valued.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for supporting the NSPCC.

Together, we can help make sure every child has someone to turn to when they need it most.

Thank you so much for your support.

Jonny x