Louis' London Marathon fundraiser

On the 2nd October 2022 I will be running the London Marathon for The Heathrow Communities Trust, The Early Birth Association (Trevor Mann baby unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital - Brighton) and The Ashford and St. Peter’s charitable Trust - Little Roo neonatal fund.

My son, Harry, was born on the 6th September 2021 - 10 weeks premature - at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, weighing in at just 3.5lbs. My Fiancé, Clare, was on a friends hen do at the time in Brighton. Which as you can imagine came as a bit of a surprise! Harry spent the following two weeks in the Trevor Mann baby unit. He was then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at our local hospital, St Peters - Chertsey. He remained at St Peters for another four weeks before we were finally allowed to bring him home on the 15th October 2021.

The care Harry received at both of the neonatal units in Brighton and Chertsey was outstanding, and the way the staff treated us in such a difficult time also made such a big difference to us. And for this reason I am hoping to raise as much as possible to donate to their charities, so they can continue to provide amazing care and support to premature babies and their families, just like they did for us.

I am also raising for the Heathrow Communities Trust, who have given me my place on the marathon this year. The trust works with communities in the boroughs surrounding Heathrow Airport to offer grants and funding to projects. Including environment and sustainability, and funding for young people.

I might add that I have not run a marathon before, or even a half marathon. I certainly would not class myself as a natural long distance runner either! So completing this challenge and raising money for the charities will be a huge achievement. Feel free to monitor my suffering on Strava, and I hope many of you will come to cheer me on, alongside Harry, on the 2nd October!

Every donation will help all these great causes, so thank you so much in advance for your kindness.