Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In March 2012, I sadly and suddenly lost my Dad. In the aftermath of his death, I took massive comfort from setting up the Alex Galanis Charitable Foundation in his memory and to date we have raised over £3000 for causes that he believed in and the money raised is already starting to make a huge difference to our chosen charity partners.

All money raised to date has been a sign of the huge generosity my dad's amazing network of family and friends. It has been so greatly appreciated and now I'm asking for your continued support. But this time, I'm truly going to earn it...

That's right. It's time for the fundraising to begin in earnest and I thought I'd do something that, quite frankly, my Dad would not believe possible. In fairness, he probably wouldn't be alone in thinking it so.

At the time of writing (May 2012), I am an unfit, 16 stone couch potato - some might say a marginally more youthful version of my Dad in his later life - basically minus a full head of white hair.

Against all logic and wisdom, I've decided to run the Amsterdam Marathon in October 2013 and I've been generously awarded a Golden Bond to run for the baby charity, Tommy's. Tommy’s is a UK based charity funding medical research to help prevent miscarriage, premature birth and still birth.

The bottom line statistic is pretty shocking: 1 in 4 mums and dads will lose a baby during pregnancy or birth.

I am lucky enough not to have gone through this, but I know so many friends who have and it seems impossible to rationalise or understand why or how. Tommy's aims to build this understanding and indeed work on reducing the number of instances of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth.

The thought of running the marathon in the knowledge that the money I raise and the influence my efforts might have on those I speak to about Tommy’s might give life to babies where there might not have been, and happy memories to families they may not have had – as I have - is simply amazing. That knowledge will not only give me the incentive to raise as much as I can for Tommy’s, but also inspire me in my training – which, for a 16 stone man who is naturally reluctant to step foot inside a gym - is going to be pretty important! It sounds hopelessly desperate, but the more people get behind me with their sponsorship, the more it will push me on!

Family was my Dad's number 1 passion. If I can raise money and awareness to help families evolve, I will be the happiest man alive and that is the aim of the Alex Galanis Charitable Foundation.

Please give what you can for this amazing charity and take a moment to read up about them either at www.AlexGalanisFoundation.org or www.Tommys.org.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

I really, really appreciate your support!