Rob shares why he is taking part the London Marathon 2025 to raise funds for Child Bereavement UK

When you know someone who has needed the support of Child Bereavement UK, you truly appreciate how important the support they offer children and families is at such a difficult time.

I’m excited and honoured to be supporting Child Bereavement UK by taking part in the London Marathon, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Although I’ve taken part in half-marathons in the past, I’ve never run a marathon although I’ve always been full of admiration for all those who take part; I’m particularly impressed by those people who aren’t really runners but get through it and achieve the distance. I’m in my 50s and, although it will be tough, there’s a saying that you must do the things you feel you can’t do.

I decided to run for Child Bereavement UK as I have a long relationship with the charity. Twenty years ago, a family I know well was supported by the charity after the sudden death of their children and more recently, I lost a close friend through suicide, leaving a young family. So the work of Child Bereavement UK resonates with me closely.

The company I work for have raised funds for Child Bereavement UK for a number of years, via golf days and other events and we always do our best to wave the flag for the charity. I’m very lucky to have great support from a lovely community of work and industry colleagues as well as family and friends – I’ve reached out to them to support my fundraising and they’ve been really responsive.

I have three months to go until the marathon and I’ve been very disciplined, eating well and exercising regularly. I am following a 17-week programme and every week involves a long run which gets longer each time. Between the training runs I sometimes run to work from the train to my workplace in Southwark, which is a beautiful route from Marylebone through Hyde Park, St James’s Park, and then down by the river. Running in London at 7am is really lovely. I also mix it up with a little bit of cross-training and resistance work.

Patience is king and you have to get it into your head that it’s a long process towards being able to do the marathon. The key is to start gently and not do too much, too soon. But I’d say to anyone who is interested that they should go for it as once you’ve broken through the mental barrier, there’s no holding you back.

As I’ve been training, I’ve been aware of the benefits to my wellbeing. It helps so much to clear your head and allows you to make the most of each day. An added positive is that my daughter is running with me - we train together, which is also a chance for us to chat and catch up.

The team at Child Bereavement UK has been very supportive. We have a WhatsApp group and we have meetings on Zoom where we get together virtually to talk about our individual challenges. Some of us have never run a marathon before, some are really challenging themselves, and others have more experience. It’s nice to be able to spur each other on and motivate one another.

The fact that we’re all fundraising for Child Bereavement UK gives us extra impetus to just try and push a little bit further. There are so many different charities who need people to fundraise for them and obviously people can only give so much. It can help if you do something that your friendship network and community know is a real challenge for you.

When you know someone who has needed the support of Child Bereavement UK, you truly appreciate how important the support they offer children and families is at such a difficult time. I’ve had so many wonderful comments from supporters and donors to say what a great charity it is, which is lovely.

Visit Rob's fundraising page

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If you have been inspired to take on a challenge for us, please visit our challenge events page, contact our fundraising team on [email protected] or call us on 01494 569048.