Gale Whittick and Kim Hawkesford enter London Marathon for charity fundraising

Gale Whittick and Kim Hawkesford

Gale Whittick and Kim Hawkesford are preparing to run the London marathon to raise money for their chosen charities.

Gale will be running the marathon to raise money for The British Heart Foundation and Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary.

She said: “I have family members who have suffered heart problems, my dad being one of them so that’s why I have chosen The British Heart Foundation. He passed away four years ago at the end of January so the BHF means a lot to me.

I also have a dog and know that Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary needs lots of money to help it run throughout each year. They do a fantastic job seven days a week so I wanted to help them as well.”

Kim will be raising money for Dementia UK and Epilepsy Research UK. Kim said: “My grandad passed away last October with vascular dementia so for me; a lot of this marathon is in memory of him.”

Epilepsy research UK also means a lot to Kim as her son has epilepsy. She added: “My son has epilepsy and a friend of mine passed away due to epilepsy years ago so these charities mean a lot to me.”

This marathon will be Gale’s third marathon after taking part in the 2010 London Marathon and the 2011 Manchester Marathon.

Training has already begun for the marathon which takes place on Sunday 13 April. Gale and Kim are currently taking part in daily running sessions to prepare for the marathon. “As the marathon gets closer, the training gets longer and harder, especially as we’re training four times a week,” said Gale.

The ladies don’t have a fundraising total in mind and just hope to raise as much money as possible.

Gale said: “Usually people set targets of thousands of pounds but we haven’t set a specific goal. We just want to raise as much money as possible for the charities.”

Kim added: “I would just like to raise money for people with the conditions my charities help.”

Anyone wishing to sponsor Gale or Kim, you can do so by visiting:

www.virginmoneygiving.com/kimhawkesford and http://www.justgiving.com/GALE-WHITTICK1