Jigsaw receives marathon support

Jigsaw applied for a marathon place four years ago and were delighted when there were allocated a place for the 2013 event which Martin Bamford, managing director of independent financial advisors, Informed Choice, will run on their behlaf.

Steven Morgan, said:. “Martin’s company, Informed Choice, had previously sponsored a very successful 5k Fun Run for us just prior to Christmas and we had been able to purchase a commercial style treadmill suitable for our older pupils with the £3,000 raised from that event.

“There seemed to be a bit of a theme developing with Martin and running events so he seemed the obvious person to call first,” he continued.

“Everyone here at Jigsaw would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for taking on this challenge on our behalf.”

Based on Dunsfold Park, near Cranleigh, Jigsaw educates children between the ages of 4 and 19 years who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Pupils at Jigsaw have been using the treadmill since it was purchased in January and it has proved an extremely beneficial addition to the gym equipment on site at the School.

During the recent bad weather, when outdoor activities have been more restricted, the children have been able to use the treadmill along with the other gym facilities to keep more active and burn off excess energy.

When Martin visited jigsaw recently to see the treadmill in situ, he was able to mix up his training programme a little and run a few miles on the machine.

Martin said: “We were really pleased, as a company, to support Jigsaw with the 5k Fun Run before Christmas and delighted they were able to purchase the commercial treadmill to help their older pupils exercise programmes.

“I can attest to just how beneficial running, or indeed any exercise, can be having recently started to run in a serious way.

“When Jigsaw called to ask if I’d like to run the Virgin London Marathon on their behalf, I leapt at the chance to help raise more funds for such a deserving local charity,” he revealed.

“As daunting as attempting the Marathon is and as difficult as I am sure it is going to be, I am a firm believer in the fact it’s more important to focus on the excellent reasons for undertaking this challenge and it’s those reasons that will keep me going.”

With a target of raising £1000 in sponsorship, Martin has been following a gruelling training schedule and keeping everyone up to date with progress through a series of Tweets and blogs – for anyone interested in catching up with his latest news he can be found on Twitter at @martinbamford.

He aims to complete the Marathon in 4 hours or less.

To date, Martin has raised over £1,000 – all sponsorship monies raised will be going to purchase additional resources to support the needs of children and young people with autism through The Jigsaw Trust.

For more information about Jigsaw, please contact Kate le Feber on [email protected] or visit www.jigsawschool.co.uk