Joey was abandoned in a public taxi park when he was just four weeks old. Before we set up our Baby Abandonment Project, Joey would doubtless have spent his life in an institution. Instead, after just six weeks with us in Malaika, Desire and George, a wonderful Ugandan couple, adopted him. After his terrible start, he was finally cherished by a loving family and had a wonderful future ahead of him.

Then disaster struck. On Monday night, we found out that Joey is suffering from critical stenosis of his pulmonary artery – and it was only a matter of time before he would suffer cardiac failure. It seems he is already a true miracle baby – we discovered that since his birth, Joey’s heart has been relying solely on the temporary structures that are necessary for babies in the womb. These should have closed up within days of his birth, but they have somehow remained open, and are currently the only things keeping him alive.

We launched an appeal on Just Giving, hoping we could go some way to raising the £10,000 we needed to send Joey for life-saving care. Then another miracle happened – you raised the entire amount in 38 hours.

Sarah Clarke, Kirsty Hinchcliff, John Rhodes, Paul Evans, Liz Hugen-Tobler, Delmi Thomas, Katx, Iain Coyle, Matthew Knight, Kirsty Stephenson, Kaeli Denison, Hattie, Perle Laouenan-Catchpole, Mark Phillips, Claire Ratinon, Hannah Hilbery, Sandra Crowley, Steve Bridger, Steve Perry, Lisa Martinson, Sarah Simpson, Sarah Burkeman, Helen Osborne, Ian Johnson, Katie Corcoran, Katy Morris, Andrew Garcia, Rosie Johnson, Georges Ratinon, Eleanor Robins, Kristy Robinson, Mary Blackwell, Bec Nielsen, The Griffiths Family, The Marlowes, Lindsay Williams, Jodie Taylor, Joey Haasbroek, Susan Gaymer, Carla Lawrence, Anu Gupta, Flo, Karen Dixon, Jessica Browning, Jennie Penhallow, Catherine Skakle, Lianne Pegrum, Gloria Charles, Kathryn Hurford, Joanna Relf, Nick Hall, Sophie, Geraldine Roul, Jonathan, Linda Utting, Rae Langford, Michele Marsland, Tamsin Simmonds, Sally O’Donoghue, Cathy Meacock, Lisa Howells, Emily Lawson, Marie Harding, Caroline and Kristen, Leanne Ford, Clare Aitken, Donna Dimitriou, Shivani Gupta, Tamsin Gale, Oliver Le Sueur, New Born Adventure, Mark Wallis, Fiona Harris, Anita Frayling, Oliver Bridge, Jenny Paine, Jerome Mallon, Anna Ozemoya, Jane Shaw, David Holland, Douglas Joy, Claire Livingstone, Oliver Wright, Caroline Knott, Lucy Buck, Zofia Hennelly, Jo’anne McAlindon, Helen Fish, Frances Plummer, Lauren Havard, Chole Avery, Penny Brashaw, Lisa C, Megan Arnold, Will Jobling, Anne Catliff, Andrew Crisell, Simon Frank, Sarah Collins, Alexis Price, Lucy Pullinger, Bernadette Jiwa, Melinda Mutton, Chloe Samwell-Smith, Tina Nielsen, Laura Francis, Georgina Irvine Robertson, Dom Waugh, Barbara Seymour, Suzy Silver, Michelle Lawrence, Richard Thomson, Stephanie Sanchez de Muniain, GemaTech, Bryony Flint, Yasmine Richardson, Amanda Preskett, Pete Stephens, Sally Braithwaite, Lizzie O’Donohoe, Suzette Haas, Ann Sharp, Rebecca Garnett, Nicole Sloman, Sangeet Bhullar, Donna Brown, Louise Scrivens, Estelle McCartney, Kate & Aidan Kong, Peter Landers, Rachel Liddle, Rob Davies, Samantha Barber, Natalie Hart, Stone King Sewell Katherine Armstrong, Sally Radford, Belle, Hannah Davies, Sarah Murphy, Marcos Gaser, Gabriela Henriksson, Aline Reed, Melissa Morgia, Alexandra Davies, Laura Parkes, Hannah Britz, Anne Scott, Adrian Marshall Williams, Rahul Deodhar, Wilfred & Edmund, Annette Diziol, Fraser Simpson, Kimberley MacKenzie, Arnolda Hunter, Niki & Graeme Simpson, Imogen Tonder, Cathryn McNaughton, Peter Mallett, Victoria Thompson-Hill, Miranda Webster, Domo Wilkinson, Emma Morgan, Sarah Boobyer & James Byrne, Vicky Bull, Laura Phipps, Katy Swan, Jenny Evans, Meenum & Alpesh Shah, Stephanie Howarth, Sara Stephens, Sharon Hall, Belinda Widgery, Annis Bailey, Catherine Ball, Georgina Godfray, James Whitby, Claire O’Dowd, Ali, Pete and Annette Barlow, Sally McFadden, Viki Kolar, Charly White, Hayley & Rhys, JC, Charlotte Gallagher, Nina Clement, Julia Barlow, Christo and Katty Brashaw, Rachel Matthews, Emily Taylor,  Greg Double, Stuart Ashley, Katy Muncer, Roena Gooch, Mary Driscoll, Donna Airey, Harriet Marshall, Jennifer Crompton, Verity Page, Sarah, Becky & Daniel, Liz & Callum, Julia Langford, Sophie Tait, Katy O’Brien, Nick Pointon, Sarah Hessing, Laura Wood, Jane O’Brien, Emily O’Brien, Nish Afsar, Mary Wbn, Sylvia Prince, Michael & Liz Hurford, Jay Morris, Jas Chopra, Chad Rogers, Arti, Paul Stott, Dinah Salako, Andrew Doran and family, Ros Coward, Ann Sammon, Selina Weller, Daniel Hart, Shardee Hoff, Emily Selby, Niamh Byrne, Shanly Meronek, Anna-Lisse & Joe Dickinson, Ian Wilson, Nick Mallett, Yvonne Cook, Hazel Buck, Jo Farrelly, David Davies, Phil Taylor, Stacey Parish & Andy Currey,  Dervla McParland, Lisa Dixon, Mark Carter, Susan Anderson, Sophie Butler, Sarah Wild, Richard Semple, Jonathan Gill, Nick McCabe, Sandra Mbabazi, Tom Blakeson, Deepti Patel,  King’s Church Manchester, Lara Gordon, Joanna Gilfoy, Alex Hodgetts, Hazel Bullen, Shona Egerton, Charlotte Glover, David Rolfe, Tracy Evans, Marina Evans, Annalisa Jones, Daniel Ruhweza and Kelly Ferguson.

We are also eternally grateful to Lynda Bleazard at the Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa in Johannesburg for paying the £4000 outstanding balance on the operation and thanks to supporters around the world – Paul Choudhury, Chris Parsons, Ravi Pandit, Jenette Davies and Andreas Tsakistos at Children’s HeartLink for their time and expertise in helping us to find the best option for baby Joey.

Joey’s operation is scheduled for Monday and we’ll keep you posted on his progress. After all, it’s you who’ve made it all possible.

Thank you xxx

I was in the UK for six weeks and when I came back to Kampala, the home had doubled in capacity from five to 10 children. Take a look at the video and see how the kids are getting on.

I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of our babies’ home. All the children in our care are happy and loved – none of them reach out to get some much-needed attention (apart from the toddler in the video, who lunges and literally embraces you with love!) because they all have relatives or our lovely staff to care for them.

When I left for the UK, we had just signed the lease for our mother and baby crisis centre ‘Malaika House’. Now, thanks to Dorthe, Shida, Janet, Harriet, Steve, Rachel, Izy, Emily, Katie and Kristen, our house has been painted and decorated and we have welcomed our first four mother and babies.

Our very own Ugandan Grand Design Team

Carol has settled in brilliantly and already signed up to a childcare course at the YMCA. Take a look at getting the home ready!

In just two weeks, we are already half full with women and babies. Most of our referrals come from Mulago Hospital. There is a ward called Mwanamugimu Ward (meaning ‘healthy child’). The children come here in dreadful states of malnutrition and tragically many are bought too late.  The children who are bought back to life after months of intensive feeding are discharged, but – sadly – they often return a few months later in the same state because the family situation remains unchanged. Now, though, we are hoping to be able to step in, enabling them to come to Malaika House with their babies. Over a period of eight months, we will work with them, giving them vocational skills and arming them with knowledge to help them be great mums. The plan then is that they leave in a position to be able to provide for their children instead of helplessly watching them slowly die. I am so proud of our service and the women living in our home are a family who support each other.  I want to thank Dorthe Bucknell, our lovely VSO volunteer and her brilliant team – Shida, Janet, Steve and Harriet for making this project a reality.

Finally our family placement service is up and running, thanks to volunteer social worker Mary Blackwell who is doing an incredible job out here. We believe the best place for our children is in a family, so from day one we plan their exit so they spend the least amount of time in our care. Last weekend was our best day yet when we said goodbye to our second baby who went to a wonderful Ugandan family. Desire and George, his new parents, are also working with us to promote adoption in Uganda and we are working with all the big radio stations, TV stations and national newspapers to launch a huge campaign to encourage Ugandan families to adopt. We want to thank the Child’s I Klimb team – Kevin O’Brien, Liam Stewart and Ian Warren – who produced our first video, which we will be showing you soon.

Proud new parents

Writing this blog has allowed me to stop and look back on what we’ve achieved. I am so proud of our charity, our supporters and the volunteers who work tirelessly around the clock to give our children and their parents love and support.

We couldn’t do this without you and if you want to help us on our mission please:

Give Love: Join our Facebook and Twitter groups and send us comments or ask us questions

Give Time: Sign up to our abseil, which is happening this weekend! We still have 10 of our 34 places to fill on our awesome 450ft abseil. If you can raise £200 in the next 48 hours and fancy taking on the challenge with GMTV’s Emma Crosby, then please email  abseil@childsifoundation.org

Give Money: With 10 children in our care we really need regular donations to help us with our running costs to pay for essentials like formula, nappies and 24-hour care and medical provision. If you would like to ‘Sponsor a Cot’ from £10 a month please visit our website http://www.childsifoundation.org/give/sponsor-a-cot/

Your regular donation is not only saving lives but creating a future. Thank you so much x

The team of 10 climbers are coming from all over the world, with three heading over from US, one from French Canada, one from Australia and five from the UK.

In true Child’s i Foundation style, the climb will be as interactive as it possibly can. The team are heading out armed with – as team leader, Kevin, calls it – a ‘gadgety, whizzy thing’ donated by Vodafone. From 1st August, you will be able to follow all of their updates live from the mountain, with interactive maps, photos and video clips on the child’s i klimb facebook page or twitter @childsiklimb.

If you would like to support our team of climbers, please visit their team Just Giving page at:

www.justgiving.com/childsiklimb

I caught up with team leader Kevin O’Brien (UK) and climbers Leanne Troop (UK) and Shelby Soares (USA) to see how they are getting on with their preparations:

How are you feeling about the up and coming challenge?

Kevin: In a word, excited.  In two shit scared.

Leanne: I’m not really sure yet – one day I’m excited, the next nervous. I’m sure once I get to the babies home before the climb and can see what I’m doing it all for then any nerves I do have will fade away and turn into sheer determination!

Shelby: I am very excited!!!…and extremely anxious for the whole experience!!

How have you been preparing for it?

K: Always taking the stairs whenever they’re an option.  Apart from at Covent Garden tube, thats just stupid.
I’m a big believer in the power of the mind so I have been visualising myself training really hard which I found a lot easier than actually doing it.

L: I’ve been training at the gym, cycling and walking to work and next weekend will climb up Scafell Pike in the Lake District to break my boots in!  I’ve still got so much to do which is worrying like sorting my kit out…

Leanne gets the best of the British weather on Scafell Pike

S: I have been hitting the gym, especially the stair climber…and Rebecca, Dany, Dave and myself climbed Mt. Washington (the highest mountain in New England) for a little practice!

What are you looking forward to most?

K: Getting to the top of course, I won’t be happy till I’ve made it.  The great thing about the Child’s i Klimb is that winning isn’t everything, but personally failure is not an option.

L: I’m looking forward to meeting the other climbers first of all. Reaching the top in one piece and then the nice cold beer I’ll enjoy at the bottom! I’m really excited about seeing the babies who’s lives we’re all helping.

S: Making it to the top!

How have you been fundraising?

K: Hassling friends and family always works, but dont just ask for their money – keep them in the picture with what your doing, let them feel part of it, they can always choose not to read your updates if they’re not interested!
On top of that I’ve done a boot sale, run around Greenwhich park in just a pair of y-fronts and am currently working on the offical Child’s i Klimb website…watch this space!

I wonder if we paid Kevin enough if he'd climb in this outfit!?!?

L: It’s been far more difficult than imagined! I’ve organised a work pub quiz, I’m now a regular at the car boot sales – this Sat being my 4th one, have put on a dance night in Brixton and have asked almost every company possible to donate prizes to raffle off.

A good old car booty

S: I did a few things.  I held a bar charity night ($10 entry fee with open bar for 2 hours), Eastern Mountain Sports let me set up a table on one of their busiest weekends, I also did a sports squares pool for a Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat basketball game (raised $250, two winners got $125 each) and my most successful was selling raffle tickets for $20 each for a 7 day 7 night resort in the Berkshires!

If you are inspired by our amazing climb team and want to find out how you can get involved with fundraising for Child’s i please email: Perle@childsifoundation.org.

We only narrowly missed getting our mitts on the Charity Partnership with Linchpin magazine by 16 votes, but now we have another shot. Aviva is currently running a fantastic little scheme – each week, people who help others have a chance to win a weekly prize of £1000 with an overall winner winning £10,000.

We were nominated by Dave Pears in East Sussex and have already won the £1000 prize, so we now have the £10,000 in our sights.

All you need to do is follow this link and within two clicks, you’ve voted. If you can help us further by sending an email out to your friends and family, or posting a message on Facebook or Twitter, we’d love you even more than we already do.

Our baby abandonment project is all about providing a solution to this widespread problem. In Uganda, poverty, rape and family rejection often lead to vulnerable women becoming pregnant. Unsupported, these girls must choose between abandoning their baby or keeping them in the knowledge that, with no food or shelter, they could die. We want to give them the choice to keep their babies, give them the skills to be great mums and the means to earn enough money to look after their babies.

I’m very proud, then, to introduce Dorthe Bucknell – a VSO volunteer, she is out here for six months setting up our mother and baby residential home and drop-in centre. The aim of the facility is to equip mothers with the skills they need to look after their children. After years of senior management at Kent Social Services, Dorthe applied to the VSO to share her expertise and make a huge difference. We are tremendously lucky to have her and the VSO involved in our project.

Meet Dorthe

When I asked Dorthe what she liked about the project, her eyes lit up. She told me: “I love being involved in the set up of a project, right from Day One. This is a great opportunity to work with local organisations and Mulago Hospital to share skills and knowledge. By working together, we can make a huge impact in an area where there is currently no service provision for young, vulnerable mothers” I love the VSO for giving us such an amazing project leader – I am personally learning a lot.

So, we now have a building and as well as being a great manager, Dorthe is also pretty good in front of the camera! In this video, she gives you a tour around our new building. By the end of the month, we should be ready to go. Very exciting times ahead…

Drinks on the Roof Terrace

The whole evening exceeded everyone’s wildest dreams, thanks to the incredible efforts of the Child’s i team, who once again gave up their time and talents to make sure everything went with a bang*. The evening kicked off with drinks in the magical roof top garden (accompanied by suitably spellbinding arias from glam operatic duo Scarlet Divas), a lucky dip and even more musical entertainment from the wonderful Bryony Weaver, Toby Allington and Jules Fuller before the guests enjoyed a three-course meal. As they ate, our awesome team of table hosts were rushed off their feet placing bids in the soon-became-VERY-competitive silent auction – a bidding war broke out for a sought-after Rolf Harris print (“can you tell what it is yet?”), which eventually fetched £1100!!!!

Things got a little messy after dinner, as the incomparable Drum Café rocked the room – it’s probably the first and only time we will ever see so many (beautifully-dressed) grown-ups banging on drums with more enthusiasm than the toddlers at Malaika!

Drumming

The evening was interspersed with some powerful and moving videos of the babies in our care, filmed by Ian Warren. One of these featured Malaika’s own amazing nurse, Frida, who explaining the work she does with our babies. After the video, many of the guests each stood up and pledged to pay £100 towards her salary, the pledges will go a long way to paying our staff wages in Uganda – an awe-inspiring achievement, and one for which we are incredibly grateful.

The pledges pay towards our staff wages

The brilliant Alex Proud of Proud Galleries was our auctioneer for the evening and our fantastic array of lots to bid on (all donated by our supporters) went down a storm. We simply have to mention Richard Osman – now the proud owner of a signed Jimmy White snooker cue and jaws dropped when the week’s yacht charter (kindly donated by supporter James Barnett), made a whopping £17,500 on the night! Once the auction finished (raising an astonishing £40,000) top London DJ’s Dixon Brothers got everyone up and dancing to some classic tunes (ball gowns, heels and all!)

Bidding war for Nicola King painting

In one magical, memorable, magnificent night of laughter (and a few tears) we raised a genuinely stunning £60,000 – which is enough money to run our Malaika Babies Home for at least 6 months!

It's all for the kids

Check out pictures of the event, taken by Eoghan Hanrahan of Magpie Photographic, here

*The massive thank yous!

Table hosts: Perle  Laouenan-Catchpole, Lisa Howells Claire Ratinon, Sara Stephens, Lara Gordon, Kat Brashaw, Kevin O’Brien, Emma Blake, Alissa Barlow, Jo Sinclair, Clarie O’Dowd, Ian Warren, Sally McClean, Will Byles, Izi Thomas, Ruth Newman, Emily Taylor, Amanda Sefton, Rosie Kong, Sophie Kingham and Rachel Mahon

Blimey,  on a very rash and hasty decision I volunteered to cycle to Paris from London for Child’s i Foundation with Karin and Steve Taylor. This was back in February when May seemed a long way away. However, as the start date loomed closer, and we had persuaded my wife Jane and a near neighbour, Julia, to come too, the panic really set in. With considerable enthusiasm but not much skill we set about our training, which went hopelessly as we were forever coming across punctures and pubs, not necessarily in that order. We did manage to persevere to a low level of readiness as the departure date loomed closer.

The team find a very useful map to follow

Last Wednesday we left where we were staying on a bitterly cold morning at 5.30am having scraped the ice off our bike seats, to arrive at Crystal Palace for our 6.00am deadline. We were signed in with 90 others and set off for Paris. The first day was 100 miles to Dover through some really hilly but beautiful countryside on a route that went round Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Ashford. Each day there were water stops in the morning and afternoon and a break for lunch which all worked like clockwork. We arrived at Dover to board an evening ferry and arrived in our hotel in Calais after dark. That first day in total was well over 100 hilly and cold miles – but we all made it, with no major upset – I could have had some more padding though…

Charles and the open road

On the second day as we started to ride on the right hand side of the road, it got warmer and (slightly) flatter for the next three more long days. Unfortunately two of our friend’s, Karin and Steve, had to head back to the UK when they had some very sad personal news and they were sorely missed. Julia crashed near Calais but soldiered bravely on. To take the pressure off, I ended up in a pub just outside Abbeville where we stayed the second night. Five hours later myself and three Americans struggled into Abbeville, not fully sure which side of the road we were meant to be on, but with only one more crash.

The third day of Abbeville to Beauvais, another 80 miles. By this stage knees and backs really started to hurt, not helped by a huge hangover and having slept on a very uncomfortable camp bed but at least the weather continued to improve. By now we had met most of the other 90 riders, all of whom had a story to tell of why they were there, raising money for charities that meant a great deal to them. Of particular note was Stewart who had sadly lost both eyes to cancer and was riding on the back of a tandem being steered by a GP and trustee of their charity – that team was a real inspiration to us all and I will not forget how impressive they were on making and succeeding on such a journey.

On the Saturday we finally arrived in Paris at The Eiffel Tower where various friends and family were waiting to meet the riders. Unfortunately the Eurostar was delayed and flights were disrupted by the Volcanic Ash issue – it just shows, back to basics on pedal power proved the most reliable route. Overall, it was four long hard days but the three of us wouldn’t have missed it for the world. The team spirit was amazing and we have some incredible memories, a sense of achievement, some spectacular bruises and it was a delight to help raise money for Child’s i Foundation.

On to the next challenge…..?

Charles, Jane & Julia celebrate at the iconic finish line

And if you have any of your own and would like to fundraise for Child’s i Foundation, you can donate at: www.justgiving.com/childsifoundation or contact contact perle@childsifoundation.org for more information.

Paul & Liz looking after our babies

I feel quite emotional writing these words – our home is finally open! And wow, it really does feel like a home now that we have started welcoming our very first babies and their mothers.

So far we have five beautiful boys in our care (I think the first girl is going to be pretty spoilt when she arrives…) and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to start the day off with a big cuddle and a cheeky grin from one of our little lads.

Our oldest boy arrived last week. Aged 18 months, he has spent all of his short life in an institution with 100 other children and only two or three carers. Over the past few days we’ve been giving him one-on-one care and I cannot begin to tell you how much he is coming out of his shell. I don’t think he has ever played with toys before, so our small cardboard boxful is keeping him amused for hours. His favourite is a car, and he can spend hours (and hours… and hours…) playing with it. He requires some physiotherapy as he has trouble walking and we need to get his ears tested, but we will do everything we can for him here and endeavour to find him a family.

Sleepless nights are part of the process but the difference 24 hours of intense medical care can make to a sick baby is overwhelming. Take a look at my video diary after a particularly hard night:

You’ll be pleased to know that he is doing really well, though, and gaining weight and is smiling now. Even more amazing, we have traced his mother, who is going to be spending time with him here until she gets back on her feet.

We were sad to say goodbye to Paul and Liz Choudhury from The Amateurs Trust who have been great supporters of our charity and have provided us with not only financial support but helped us equip our nurses station. Liz has been volunteering out here putting her nursing skills into good use and helping us set up our home whilst Dr Paul came into his element helping us with babies and staff alike and we miss them both. They made a very good team and we would love to see them out here again very soon.

Elsewhere, plans for our Mother and Baby centre are coming along nicely and we are very pleased to announce that we have found a location. Last week, Dorthe, our VSO volunteer, had a meeting with stakeholders from local charities, the government and Mulago hospital to refine exactly what services we will be offering new mothers to empower them and enable them to keep their babies – including skills training, vocational training, adult literacy, family planning, and skills in being a good mum.

After reading ‘The Blue Sweater’ by Jacqueline Novogratz it taught me how important it is to give women economic independence as it gives them choices and the decision-making power to control their destiny. Without meaning to sound like a Spice Girl (”Zig-a-zig-ah”), I do love a bit of Girl Power…

Sending you all love from Uganda x

Ian, Rhino and silly hat.

To be fair, Lucy is indeed very, very busy and just a little unwell which is unsurprising given the amount of work she and all the staff here have achieved in the run up to the opening of the Malaika Babies Home.

I first met Lucy at a CiF meeting in London about a year ago and like most people who are confronted by this persuasive young(ish) lady I was immediately impressed by her vision for the charity. Little was I to know that 12 months later I would be out here in Africa typing away while listening to a combination of baby laughter, cries, bottom burps and crickets and churning out weekly video updates.

My three-month stint is soon to be over and Child’s i Foundation are looking for TV volunteers to come out and work for 3-6 months  so if you’re competent with a camera and can edit on Final Cut Pro I’d thoroughly recommend that you drop Lucy an email: lucy@childsifoundation.org and also feel free if you have any questions you’d like to ask me from the actual job requirements to living out here in Africa ian@childsifoundation.org – I respond very well to lunch and beers.

You can check out the latest VT here:

Having posted several VTs over the last few months this one was a particular pleasure because it was the accumulation of all the hard work as the Malaika Babies Home finally opened.  It was a great day and so rewarding to see the house full of all the lovely staff and people who have helped and supported along the way.

Now we are up and running we are currently caring for three babies and not a day goes by when the phone doesn’t ring with news of another abandoned child in need of a home so, on behalf of everyone involved, all of your continued support is very much appreciated.

Okay – that’s me. I’d like to say my work here is done but I know that the boss is going to squeeze another couple of VTs out of me before I leave but not before I sneak off to the local swimming pool and bask in the tropical sunshine while nursing a cheeky beer.

TIA – This Is Africa… x

We think it’s only right to recognise their sterling efforts, so a huge thank you to: Jessica Thompson, Ben Hanley, James Barnett, Mathew Wood, Lauren Havard & Duncan Groves for taking on the Inagural Brighton Marathon; Sam Hampson, the Brighton Mini Mile; Peter Hackett, the world famous London Marathon; Julian Heron, Uckfield Super Sprint Triathlon. Also a massive thank you to volunteer Nerys Nicholls for organising the Brighton Marathon team!

If you would like to show your support for our runners, join the Child’s i Runners facebook group or follow the @childsirunners twitter feed. I caught up with some of these (fool)hardy souls to see how they are feeling about their forthcoming runs:

Brighton Marathon Runner: Jessica Thompson

Why did you choose to run for Child’s i Foundation?

I have been involved with the Child’s i Foundation after interviewing Lucy when I was a journalist at her local paper. I was completely captured by Lucy’s dream and the charity mission and felt that I wanted to get involved. Since then I have helped with some fundraisers, held a volunteers evening where I met the amazing Emma Blake and together we held a special Christmas Ice Party for the charity. Now it’s the marathon.

Brighton Marathon runner Jess in training

Whats your training schedule like?

Due to tight time constraints with my job, I have been following a three session a week programme, which has varied over time. It has mostly involved a military fitness class, speed work and a long run at the weekend.

Have you ever done anything like this before?

I have been running for two and a half years, I have completed three half marathons but never a full one.

How are you feeling about running the marathon at the moment?

I am pleased with how my training went and should have some faith in that but I am terrified to be honest!!! I am very excited but also cannot envisage running such a long way. Really glad that I will have the team with me so we can do it together.

We have five running spaces for next years Brighton Marathon if you are interested in following in our teams foot steps contact: Perle@childsifoundation.org

London Marathon Runner: Peter Hackett

Why did you choose to run for Child’s i Foundation?

I won a place for the London Marathon in the public ballot. I felt I ought to raise money for a charity and I chose to run for Childs I Foundation because a friend of mine – Ian Warren, is working out in Uganda for the home at the moment and another friend of mine – Kevin O’Brien, is organising the Killamanjaro climb for later in the year.

Whats your training schedule like?

My training schedule involves running five days a week. Most days involve fairly short distances with the long runs saved for the weekend. The longest distance I have covered in my training is 19 miles.

Peter running in the 2008 marathon

Have you ever done anything like this before?

I have only previously run one marathon, which was in 2008. Unbeknown to me, I ran it with a hairline fracture in my right ankle which was diagnosed until after the race. It seemed I incurred it two weeks before the marathon. If I had known about the injury I probably wouldn’t have run, so I am glad it turned out the way it did – even if I did end up in plaster for a few weeks after the race!

How are you feeling about running the marathon at the moment?

So basically although I am feeling apprehensive about this year’s marathon, my hope is to run it without any pain in my ankle! I know that the last few miles won’t be much fun, but I know that it will be a fantastic day and a great experience!

We are currently looking for Superheros to run in the 5km Superhero run in London on the 13th June 2010. So if you have been itching to release your inner superhero this is your moment! If you would like to find out more about this run contact: Perle@childsifoundation.org.