From Tim White:

Thank you for visiting this page. I will be running the Birmingham Half-Marathon on Sunday 24th October in order to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. There are many brilliant charities that I'd happily support but my choice of this one is a consequence of learning this year that my sister Heather has breast cancer.

My knowledge of cancer is slim but I've known people who have survived it and others who have not. In every case, as a concerned friend or relative, all you can do is await news - sometimes full of hope, other times confirming your worst fears. While those close to you are undergoing treatment and adjusting to a life with many new challenges you just feel like you are standing around, helpless. There are people, such as those supported by Cancer Research UK, who are working to try and understand and alleviate the effects of cancer and, knowing that, the most useful thing I feel I can do is not to stand around but to start running in order to raise some money to aid their research.

All I can give my sister and others I know who have been diagnosed with cancer is my time and my support but in the wider scheme of things I hope my efforts in October will generate a small portion of the resources needed to lessen the likelihood of others having to endure cancer.

Those who know me will appreciate that moving my not inconsiderable frame and countering my tendency to indolence are no small matters - your financial encouragement will make what will undoubtedly be a long and painful slog around Brum slightly less unpleasant and I am grateful for any contribution that you can make.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It's also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK gets your money faster and, if you're a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!

If you can't or are unwilling to donate online, or wish to inform others who do not have access to a computer but would like to contribute then full details of how to do this (including pdf files that you print off and distribute) can be found here - http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/donate/other_ways_donate/donatebypost It would be great if you could email me to let me know of any such contributions - tim@oedipus.demon.co.uk - and I can add that to the money raised offline total - but the main thing is that money is raised!