The London Marathon is at the end of April, and right now, social media feeds are full of people asking for sponsorship. How do you decide who to give your money to? How can you make a difference?

Here in Gillingham, Stacey Knight, Cath Snow and Alex Archer are three mothers running the marathon on behalf of Team Torri and Children with Cancer UK. Torri, a young girl from Gillingham, was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was seven years old, and battled it for six years, before passing away aged 13. For her family and friends, it was not just Torri’s death that was devastating – the brutal nature of the treatment was also hard to bear.

‘Torri was a close friend, my youngest daughter’s bestie,’ says Stacey. ‘As time went on we became aware about the treatments she had to endure. They are so harsh and so old as far as the science is concerned. There has been very little development over the past 70 years, and some have horrific side effects. Children with Cancer UK are looking for new treatments to find kinder ways to fight cancer with less harsh side effects. This has to be so important for the children and families continuing to suffer cancer treatments.’

More locally, Team Torri provides practical way of supporting families. ‘Often a parent has to give up work, reducing the family income whilst at the same time incurring higher fuel, parking and food bills for the endless trips and stays to various hospitals for treatment and consultation. Plus there is  the impact of being away from home, and the difficulties of supporting other family members,’ continues Stacey. ‘Having support must mean so much when you must feel at your most lost and most desperate.’

While Stacey has run the London Marathon before, Cath and Alex are newbies to the race and it has been hard going since they began training last autumn. ‘We’re not elite runners so it’s a tough challenge – it’s been about up 5am starts on cold winter mornings and long three to four hour weekend runs,’ says Alex. ‘But we’ve never thought about giving up.’

‘We’re not about trying to achieve impressive times,’ says Cath. ‘We’re just doing something that is incredibly tough for us, because the children and families supported by Team Torri and Children with Cancer UK deserve extraordinary effort.’

*** Stacey, Cath and Alex will be collecting on Saturday, April 18, 9am-11am, at ASDA, and on Sunday, April 19, at Waitrose 10.30am-12.30pm.

Donations can also be made online at https://www.givewheel.com/fundraising/11883/team-torri-trio/