[Tower Ravens] My Bard-tastic Marathon

Friends, colleagues and family members - lend me your ears (well, as this is an email I suppose I really mean your eyes) I'm running a marathon this Sunday. Of course I'd be a week too late for the London Marathon. But instead of Docklands, the Square Mile and the Embankment, I've opted for the winding lanes and cobbled thoroughfares of Stratford Upon Avon and the slightly less iconic, but equally challenging Shakespeare Marathon. (To avoid any confusion this is a run and not an epic 26.2 hour rendition of comedies, tragedies and histories by Britain's greatest playwright.) I'm running for two fantastic charities - Age UK and YouthNet. But more to the point I'm running for the one million older people in the UK who go a month or longer without speaking to anyone they know. Chronic loneliness is one of the most widespread and devastating effects of growing older. As friends and loved ones move or pass away, and poor health and mobility make it hard to get out and about, thousands of older people find themselves cut off from their communities and completely alone. Age UK and YouthNet have a solution - a new programme that trains young volunteers to help older people get online, stay connected and feel less lonely. It's simple, it's obvious and it will transform lives. Remember the last time you heard from an old friend via Facebook or received a funny email from a relative. When that's the only human interaction you'll get all week, that message becomes your connection with the outside world, your reason for living. Please sponsor me and help Age UK and YouthNet give older people a lifeline-online: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HannorahLee2 In the words of William Shakespeare 'I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.' Hannorah Please donate to the Syria Crisis Appeal by text or online: To donate £5 by mobile, text SYRIA to 70800. To donate online, please visit http://www.ageinternational.org.uk/syria Over one million refugees are desperately in need of water, food, healthcare, warm clothing, blankets and shelter; Age International urgently needs your support to help affected older refugees. Age International is a subsidiary charity of Age UK and a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). The DEC launches and co-ordinates national fundraising appeals for public donations on behalf of its member agencies. Texts cost £5 plus one standard rate message. Age International will receive a minimum of £4.96. More info at ageinternational.org.uk/SyriaTerms ------------------------------- Age UK is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, (registered charity number 1128267, registered company number 6825798). Registered office: Tavis House, 1-6 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9NA. For the purposes of promoting Age UK Insurance, Age UK is an Appointed Representative of Age UK Enterprises Limited, Age UK is an Introducer Appointed Representative of JLT Benefit Solutions Limited and Simplyhealth Access for the purposes of introducing potential annuity and health cash plans customers respectively. Age UK Enterprises Limited, JLT Benefit Solutions Limited and Simplyhealth Access are all authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. ------------------------------ This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you receive a message in error, please advise the sender and delete immediately. Except where this email is sent in the usual course of our business, any opinions expressed in this email are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Age UK or its subsidiaries and associated companies. Age UK monitors all e-mail transmissions passing through its network and may block or modify mails which are deemed to be unsuitable. Age Concern England (charity number 261794) and Help the Aged (charity number 272786) and their trading and other associated companies merged on 1st April 2009. Together they have formed the Age UK Group, dedicated to improving the lives of people in later life. The three national Age Concerns in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have also merged with Help the Aged in these nations to form three registered charities: Age Scotland, Age NI, Age Cymru.