Running the North York Moors Marathon for Rainbow Migration!

Hello! I'm super excited to be running the North York Moors Marathon in October 2022, raising money for the charity Rainbow Migration!! The route is located within the North York Moors National Park - going up the coast via the Cleveland Way, just south of Robin Hood Bay, then looping back through the moors. Dramatic cliffs! Woods! Moorland! Farmland! Beaches! This run seems to have it all.

(you can find more info about the event here, and sign up too if you'd like - endurancelife.com/north-york-moors)

I'm running to raise money for Rainbow Migration, an amazing & inspiring charity that supports LGBTQI+ people through the UK's asylum and immigration system. They provide legal information and advice, much needed emotional support as they go through the asylum process, and practical support for accessing vital services such as housing and healthcare. They also campaign nationally to improve the treatment of people seeking asylum in the UK.

Rainbow Migration was first set up in 1993, and was central in the campaign to win legal recognition for same-sex partners in 1997, and to recognise for unmarried partners in the immigration system in 2000.

In 2021, despite covid, Rainbow Migration helped 13 individuals gain asylum in the UK, as well as providing 242 legal consultations, helping 195 people access secure housing, and 100 accessing health and mental health services.

LGBTQI+ rights are slipping away in several countries, whilst remaining non-existent in many others - and combined with the UK's asylum system becoming more and more difficult and unforgiving to navigate (including via the introduction of the awful Nationality and Borders Bill, also known as the Anti-Refugee Bill) - it is more important than ever that Rainbow Migration has the resources to support these LGBTQI+ individuals who have such an acute and urgent need for claiming asylum and finding refuge.

Rainbow Migration’s service users are fleeing the worst sort of treatment in their home country, including being targeted by groups of police officers, suffering daily physical abuse, being forced to undergo conversion therapy and even becoming victims of human trafficking. You can read some of their stories here: rainbowmigration.org.uk/en/case-studies

Samir, from Kosovo, said that 'Rainbow Migration helped me come to terms with who i was and seeing other people in the same situation as mine helped me understand that I'm not alone’.

So please donate if you are able to! Any amount would be hugely appreciated and all the money goes directly to the charity.