Fundraising Boost

My thanks to Liz Mercer, Lol Harris and Yuji Ijima for their kind support. This brings the total upto £14,162.

Getting Fit UPDATE

Well the good news is that I am alive and well after an epic 18 mile training run on Easter Monday (delayed from Easter Sunday because of the snow!). I have legs like ironing boards and I waddle like a duck but I am sure the pain will subside. It is all down hill now trainingwise until Sunday 13th April!

Fundraising Boost

Another big fundraising boost with the news that The Maersk Company have pledged £2000. Fantastic and very much appreciated. My thanks go to Mark Malone. This takes the total pledged so far to £14,037.

Fitness update

The 2008 London Marathon approaches (it is on April 13th) and whilst my training has been intermittent it is vaguely on-track and in accordance with my training schedule. This Sunday will see me attempting the last and longest of my training runs i.e. 18 miles. I hope the weather will be okay and that my weary legs and lungs will hold out!

Supporters update

The following is the current list of supporters who have made donations or pledged support: -

Shipping Companies

Anglo-Eastern (IOM)
Columbia Ship Management
Delta Marine
Logbridge
Lauritzen Fleet Mananagement
Norbulk Shipping
OSM
The Maersk Company
The staff of the Chamber of Shipping
V-Ships Monaco

Unions

Nautilus UK
The members and guest attending the Nautilus UK 150th Anniversary Dinner (May 2007)
D1-MEBA (USA)
AIMPE (Australia)
MUA (Australia)
Philippines Seafarers Union
SINDMAR (Brazil)

Individuals

Robert Woods
Edmund Brookes
Carl Husain
Pat Duncan
Pete Duncan
John McCurdy
Russ Garbutt
Chris Rogers
Su Flynn
Nick Luff
Noel Cooke
John Cooke
John Brown
The Dickinson Family
Dennis McIntyre
Bob Doyle
Gordon Thompson
John Cameron
Noriko Tomita
Andy MacFarlane
Andrew Cassells
Cleo Doumbia Henry
Jacques Bille
Yumiko Arai
Mark Dickinson

Grand total so far £12,037 with some pledgers still to reveal their generosity!

Fundraising Update March 2008

My fundraising has had some major boost over the past few weeks following an article in my Unions monthly journal which I highlighted in an email blitz to my friends and contacts. I have now reached the £12,000 mark - only £8,000 to go!


My good friend and colleague Severino Filho from the Brazilian merchant navy officers union (SINDMAR) pledged a significant sum.

Cleo Doumbia-Henry who is Director of International Labour Standards at the International Labour Organisation has pledged personal support. Jacques Bille (formerly of ACOMARIT in Geneva) with whom I worked with on the Global Mariner campaign back in 1998 and Susanne Meyer from Columbia Ship Management have also pledged support.

Andrew Cassells from BP Shipping has also made a pledge in a personal capacity.

And my Aunty Pat has made another pledge as too have my Mum, Dad and siblings (I am the eldest of 5!).

My thanks go to you all!

Getting fit - update

The training regime continues towards my aim of particpating in the London Marathon on Sunday 13th April. Last weekend (Sunday 9th March) I completed the Brentwood half marathon in 2:15:04 an average pace of 10m:30s which is not bad for a hitherto unreformed couch potato! I am hoping to maintain that pace in the full marathon (a big hope) and complete the 26.2 mile course around London in under 5 hours.

Lloyd's List Article

My fund raising received a major bit of media exposure this week thanks to Lloyd's List which included a piece on my fundraising activities in Monday's edition (10 March) of the global shipping industry's leading daily newspaper. To read the article go to

Lloyd's List

I am hopeful that it will generate some financial support from the shipping industry.