Dear colleague, dear friend,

I need your help. In the next few months, I will be raising funds for Autistica. To help my campaign, I will be running the British 10K in July and the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October.

I accept that running for a charity is not a big challenge. For me personally, the real challenge is to raise 5000£ (ex matched giving) and as proof of my commitment I am contributing £500 towards the very worthy cause.

Autism is a generic name that includes several mental conditions. It primarily affects communication and relationships. Autism is quite common with one in every hundred people affected in the UK, but it is often a hidden disability. I have personal experience with this condition.

You may know of autism if you watched the film 'Rain Man' with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. You may not know however, that the movie is partially based on a real story (Kim Peek), who was the inspiration for Hoffman's character in the film. He was autistic but he was also an avid reader who remembered everything he read. Some called him a genius and there have been several famous autistic people (Einstein and Mozart were thought to be afflicted). Unfortunately most autistic people are not that lucky and tend to struggle in the real world (read the story of the 11 year old that was handcuffed by the police and put in prison for 60 hours http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-36472234).

There is a fine line between being a genius who is useful to society and a genius who is a burden. Your money is about bridging that gap or just about helping people with this condition live a happy life.

If you have read this and you did not know about Autism, I have already achieved something. In any case, if you can, please do give generously.

Thanks and kind regards

Francesco

P.S. here is a short film about Autistica (htpps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWoTVAOq-iY&feature=youtu.be), and here is their web page https://www.autistica.org.uk. 

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