My Story

Hi and welcome to my story as to why I'm running the 2026 TCS London Marathon for the amazing African Children's Fund!

Full disclosure, I'm turning 40 in 2026, and the London Marathon has always been something I've wanted to do, but everyone tells you "don't run a marathon, what a ridiculous thing to do", especially after I ran the Cambridge Half Marathon in 2020, even I thought what a stupid idea that would be, that distance, AGAIN?! But, big birthdays make you look at life a certain way, and if I didn't try now, would I never do it, and always wish I had? Not a regret I was willing to chance, so let's take all the learnings from the Cambridge Half and do this thing properly.

I know running a marathon is no mean feat, and I of course chanced it in the ballot, but I need something to run for, so I looked for a charity that I understood, that resonated, and I found that with African Children's Fund. I've been so lucky to have been to Kenya several times, and while very developed compared to other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, poverty, and lack of access to the simplest of things, like food, is a very real challenge.

Children in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe don't have access to education, and when parents can't afford to feed their children, sending them to school isn't an option, they're needed at home to scavenge, to make money, just to survive, let alone be educated. But education is a route out of poverty, and the African Children's Fund enables that to happen through its Porridge Club, parents can send their children to school knowing they will be fed when they get there. This keeps children in education longer and helps them to get out of poverty.

How far does your money go?

•           £20 covers the cost of a care pack for an orphaned family in Zimbabwe so the children can concentrate on learning rather than working

•           £90 pays for a mug of porridge for 1,000 children in Kenya, reducing the need for working, scavenging or begging for food

•           £12 provides a girl in Tanzania with reusable sanitary towels and access to social education forums so she won't miss one week in four of her schooling

•           £250 supports a social worker in Uganda, to resettle a child rescued from the streets with a family.

•           And for every £9 you donate that’s over my fundraising target, the charity will provide 100 extra mugs of porridge to children born into poverty!

And finally, for anyone that judges my time (for being slow!), I see you, and make sure you put an extra £10 in your donation!

Thank you for reading this far, think of me running through all weathers (or join me if you like!), and think of what your donation can do to support children in Sub Saharan Africa, a place so special, where the dust settles under your skin the moment you get there, and never leaves you.

 Lizzie G xxx