So I'm running the London Marathon for the British Hen Welfare Trust. For those of you that know us, they're the people that rescue the chickens that come to live with us. But this is not just about finding homes for poor, abused animals; it's about the story they tell us. 

http://www.bhwt.org.uk/about-us/

• Approximately half of all British cage-laid egg consumption is as ingredients in everyday food. Your mayonnaise, your cake, or your egg salad. 
• New 'enriched' cages allow hens more space than battery cages. The extra space per hen is approximately the size of a drinks coaster. 
• Laying hens are bred to lay so many eggs in their lifetime that many ex-intensively farmed birds will be so damaged by the volume of eggs produced, that they develop internal infections and tumors, and almost literally lay themselves to death. 

The British Hen Welfare Trust doesn't want to shut down the egg industry, but work with it to promote decent welfare. They want to show us how we can use our shopping habits to stop the abuse of animals in the name of cheap food. And this is what I want to help them with. Please take a moment to check not just that the packet of eggs you have is free-range, but the ingredients in your food and snacks too. 

Behind every cheap egg, anywhere you find it, is a chicken living a life of misery. Let's stop that. And if you'd like to help the BHWT do their work, please donate a little bit of cash to help them out. How about £3, the cost of a decent dozen eggs? Or £10, the price of a whole chook, that's led a half decent life? More than the money, I want to our girls to show people that if chickens are going to work for us, and give up their lives for us, we can at least show them some respect.

And when you've donated, why not have a look-see at what some happy hens do all day, over at e17chickens.com