“I am now just over three weeks away from the Half Marathon so my training is really ramping up. Last weekend, I ran a 7.2km inter county cross-country fixture for Sussex and this week I am working really hard on endurance and building up the mileage. On Thursday, I ran a 14 mile training run so I am now well prepared for the distance in the Half Marathon itself and over the next two weeks I will aim to pick up my pace to target a 90 minute finish.”

To support him in his fundraising for Reading Spots through this half-marathon challenge, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andrew-smailes. 

Reading Spots is entirely run by volunteers with limited costs – your donations will go straight to projects in Ghana (either building libraries, buying books or transporting books!) Andrew has been supporting the wider work of the charity since September.

This is his full story:

‘I will be running the Brighton Half Marathon on Sunday 25th February 2018 to raise money for Reading Spots.

In Easter 2018, I will be travelling out to Ghana with a team of 9 other students and 3 members of staff to see firsthand the great difference that Reading Spots makes. For this appeal, we are asking for any contributions, however big or small as they will collectively make a huge difference. Some of the money raised will go towards creating a new community education space in Ampatano, a rural fishing village in Western Ghana, while the rest will go towards other existing and new projects in Ghana.

Reading Spots aims to support the construction of community libraries in IT centres in remote areas of Ghana. These libraries are self-sufficient and managed by Ghanaians and will support additional functions such as offering free adult literacy sessions and poetry reading competitions – fundamentally offering a community space focused on education.’