I am on a bit of a fitness kick and I have discovered a love of running. I want to take this hobby to the next level and challenge myself to run 42 kms, thats right, a whole 26 miles as part of the world famous London marathon. 

I am running the race on 24 April 2016. I've moved through the stage of feeling panicked by the prospect, and I've started to focus on training. I'm part of an awesome run club and we'll be spending many cold winter mornings over the coming months clocking up those training miles. 

Most importantly, the London marathon is a great opportunity for me to raise support for a charity whose work I know and respect. PEAS sets up and manages secondary schools in Uganda and Zambia. The fact that children miss out on the chance to attend high school is unjust enough, but kids who lack a secondary education face hurdles that others dont. Kids who have even just one extra year of education beyond primary school boost their eventual wages by 10-25%. Children who have secondary education are three times less likely to become HIV positive. Babies of mothers with secondary education are twice as likely to survive beyond age 5 as compared to those mothers who have no education. 

Much of the aid sector is focused on primary education. That is great and understandable, but it means that once children reach the age of 11 years, there are very few opportunities for them to go to school. For girls in particular this can be devastating, as families expect them to get married and start raising their own children once primary school finishes. 

I have friends who work at PEAS and I know and trust their model. PEAS has a sustainable model which builds towards being completely independent of UK fundraising. 

Here are some of the great benefits that you can bring to a child if you support PEAS: 

£5 buys a student a text book 

£10 gets sports equipment and allows children to learn outside the classroom

£14 buys essential lab equipment for science lessons

£30 could provide a dormitory bed to help students attend schools that would otherwise be too far away 

£90 will create a school place for the next 20 years!!!! 

A gracious donation by you can help a child, and the benefits of your generosity will be felt long into their adulthood. 

Thanks for caring xxx