Hello everyone

Thank you for taking the time to visit my fundraising page.

On Sunday 24 April 2016 I will be running the London Marathon to raise funds for the Children's Liver Disease Foundation. CLDF is a charity very close to my heart, with them providing invaluable care, comfort and support to my family from when my brother, Edward, was diagnosed with chronic liver disease as a child through to him receiving his life-saving liver transplant four years ago.

CLDF were ever-present throughout Edward's journey from the moment we were waiting for his specific condition to be diagnosed. CLDF gave Edward and our family all the information we needed about his condition; guided Edward in managing his condition as he transitioned into adulthood; aided him when his situation became critical and he was put on the transplant waiting list; and helped him in his recovery post-operation.

Fortunately Edward is well and living a fit and healthy life but two children each day continue to be diagnosed with liver disease. Liver disease has no cure, with the cause of most childhood liver diseases being unknown, so there are many other families that rely on the support of CLDF. Despite being the only UK charity dedicated to fighting childhood liver disease, CLDF is a small charity and are dependent on voluntary contributions and fundraising activities such as this to help them continue to fund vital medical research, provide tailored support services to all those affected by childhood liver disease, deliver comprehensive information to young people, families and friends and help effect change in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood liver disease.

I am hoping to be able to raise funds through the healthy lifestyle I am adopting as part of my training programme, with all money saved on alcohol and pork scratchings being put towards this, but any donations you are able to contribute to allow CLDF to continue with their wonderful work would be very much appreciated.

Also, in case you were not aware, England operates a opt-in organ donation system. If you are not registered and would like to then this can be done within minutes either online (www.organdonation.nhs.uk) or by calling the NHS Donor Line (on 0300 123 23 23). We will be forever grateful to Edward's donor family, alongside the other recipients whose lives were saved through their generosity.

Thank you very much

Rob