This year I have been privileged enough the secure myself a place in the Virgin Money London Marathon! 

The charity I have chosen to run for is Nottingham School of Boxing in connection with Switch Up. Nottingham School of Boxing has been set up by Switch Up to help young people across Nottingham build confidence, tolerance, discipline, respect, self esteem and above all learn to box.

Whether you are looking to compete in boxing at an amateur level, or just want to have fun learning a new sport in a friendly local gym, Nottingham School of Boxing is where you need to be.

I first heard of the charity when the company I work for started supporting them, so I thought I take a trip down to Boxing gym and check it out for myself.  After the 1st session, I loved it; Not only is there such a diverse group of people but what surprised me the most was the real sense of unity and encouragement from everyone there. This was my first time in a boxing gym and I really felt part of it, and I've continued to go every week since.

The more time I spent at the gym, the more I truly admired all the work all the coaches and volunteers do. Switch Up provides a mentoring framework which offers tailored support to each individual young person. They work closely with other community and voluntary sector organisations, and can accept referrals or make referrals to various support agencies.

Switch Up uses the Olympic sport of boxing as a hook to engage marginalised young people in positive activity before getting to know them individually and offering our mentoring resources to help guide them through potentially life changing situations. Their mentors aim to empower these young people through developing positive attitudes and challenge negative ones.

I wasn't the most disciplined teenager growing up and getting involved in sport really turned my life around so when it came to working with a charity, Switch Up seemed perfect to me!