Virgin Money London Marathon
On the 22nd April 2018 I’m going to be running the Virgin Money London Marathon in aid of The National Deaf Children’s Society and I CANNOT WAIT! I’ve been running for a few years now and while it is a sport I genuinely enjoy I am going to need your friendly support (cheers/good wishes/general comradery and if you can manage, lots of massages, gels and KT Tape) more than ever to get me through my gruelling training plan along with your charitable support too.
The National Deaf Children’s Society is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people. Thanks to support like yours, the National Deaf Children’s Society is able to offer help to every deaf child. Believing that every deaf child should be valued and included by society and have the same opportunities as any other child they support deaf children and their families, and work with decision-makers and professionals to overcome the barriers that hold deaf children back.
Those of you that know me will also know that I am deaf (around 60% in both ears) and have been wearing hearing aids since I was 2 years old and so I’m incredibly aware of the struggles deaf children face at school, home, social and work situations.
Without the right support, deaf children and young people are vulnerable to isolation, abuse, bullying, poor self-esteem and low levels of achievement. Deafness is not a learning disability. There is no reason why the majority of deaf children should achieve any less than hearing children yet 59% of deaf children failed to achieve 5 GCSEs (including English and Maths) at grades A to C in 2016, compared to 44% of other children. With over 50,000 deaf children in the UK it’s a sad statistic.
Being deaf in poorer countries brings a lot of very different, more serious problems. NDCS work hard to obliterate the barriers deaf children face across the globe. Every donation goes a long way, £30 will provide a deaf child with a digital streamer (enabling them to have conversations in noisy places) and £500 will give hygiene and sanitation training to deaf girls in Odisha, India – little or large, your donation really does count!
You can donate in cash here or you can purchase a set of 6 Extremely Wild greetings cards which I’ve created especially for my fundraising activities. With 450 miles of winter training ahead of me I needed to do something a little self-indulgent, but it’s all for a good cause! All profits go straight to NDCS.