At 9.30am, on 15th October 2017, I will be on the start line of the inaugural Birmingham International Marathon. Over the last 6 months, I have prepared myself as best I can by pounding the streets of Birmingham, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Devon and Brittany! And now, I'm asking you to consider giving a few of your pounds to motivate me through the challenge of 26.2 miles.
In the work I do for the charity sector, I regularly meet people who have had some incredibly difficult experiences in their life. One of the charities is Anawim who support some of the most disadvantaged women and children in the Birmingham area. Many of the women have ended up in dreadful circumstances, yet they have dug deep to find something inside themselves to embrace change. With Anawim's support, they have turned their lives around-one step at a time.
This charity is local and is personal, yet has gained national recognition for the impact it makes, breaking the vicious cycle of domestic violence, homelessness, offending behaviour and mental illness that many of the women experience.
I know that the last few miles of the marathon are going to be hard, and I'll need to dig deep myself to keep going, but I will be massively motivated knowing that I'm raising money for Anawim, and with each step am supporting these women in their much more difficult journeys. Please consider a donation, however small.
“No one had listened to me or heard anything that I had to say before coming to Anawim, I have been locked in a silent world of self-loathing and fear. Everyone that I had ever spoken to before just dismissed me. I can’t begin to think where I would be now without the support that I have received from my worker and the groups, I don’t think I would still be here! I had lost all hope but when I walked in to Anawim for the first time in my life I felt listened to and believed and somehow after my first appointment there was hope and that I was in the right place.” Josie
