3 Charities ... 3 Men ... 1 Edinburgh Marathon

Hi everyone,

Welcome to our Go Fund Me page for the Edinburgh Marathon 2023 which is on the 28th of May. This is Anish, Tom and Rajan here who will be running the full marathon. We decided to set up a go fund me page as we wanted to equally split all the money raised into 3 different charities, Alzheimer's Society, Cancer Research UK and Lupus UK. Cancer, Dementia and Lupus have affected our families and we would like to support them by raising some for the amazing work they carry out.

Please see our stories below:

Anish

Some of you may already know that my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. She went through a surgery, 6 cycles of chemotherapy, another surgery followed by 3 weeks of radiotherapy and bone treatment for 2 years. We were lucky enough to find the cancer on early stages and with the help and support of NHS staff, friends and families she has powered through and made it fully back to work now.

This would not have been possible without the research carried out by organisations such as Cancer Research UK. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, but survival over the last 40 years has nearly doubled. Today, 8 in 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer will survive their disease for 10 years or more. Their research underpins many of today’s treatments and has helped save thousands of lives. This is why I would like to raise money for Cancer Research UK to help them on the their research to beat all the cancers and increase the chances of survival for cancer patients. Over the last 40 years, cancer survival rates in the UK have doubled. In the 1970s just 1 in 4 people survived their disease for 10 years or more. Today 2 in 4 survive. They want to accelerate progress and see 3 in 4 patient surviving the disease by 2034.

Rajan

I unfortunately lost my grandmother in 2022, she was a long sufferer of Lupus but was one of the strongest women I knew. The causes of Lupus are still unknown and there isn’t a known cure. All donations are highly appreciated.

LUPUS UK is the only national registered charity supporting people with systemic lupus and discoid lupus and assisting those approaching diagnosis.

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease where the immune system is dysfunctional and mistakenly identifies the body’s own tissues as foreign invaders. In people with lupus, the immune system creates autoantibodies to attack the body’s tissues. These form immune complexes which cause inflammation and damage – possibly affecting the organs and/or the joints in some lupus patients. Lupus disproportionately affects females and people from Black African, Caribbean, and Asian ancestries.

Tom

Towards the end of 2022 I unfortunately lost my Nana after she was unfortunately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This is also a personal challenge as my Nana was proud of her Scottish roots and spent the majority of her life either living in Scotland or talking about it! This is the reason I am running the Edinburgh Marathon.

At Alzheimer's Society, they believe passionately that life doesn't end when dementia begins. They are there for anyone affected by dementia, and they do everything we can to keep people with dementia connected to their lives and the people who matter most.

Best of luck to Josh running the marathon with us and Danny running the half marathon!!