Gareth Benger
My Story
Hello all,
So I'm running the London Marathon 2022 for the Youth Sport Trust, a charity I've been following for a while. The YST works tirelessly to equip educators and empowers young people with the vision of creating a future where every child enjoys the life-changing benefits of play and sport.
There are 5 issues the charity are working to tackle:
- Only 45% of young people are meeting the Chief Medical Officer guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day (Sport England, 2021)
- The UK ranked lowest out of 24 European countries for the proportion of 15 year olds with high life satisfaction (PISA, 2018)
- One in seven children are obese by the time they start school, increasing to one in four by year six (NHS, 2021)
- 38% of teachers said their PE provision has declined because core subjects have been given additional time (Youth Sport Trust, 2018)
- One in six children have a probable mental disorder (NHS Digital, 2020).
Sport has been very important to me throughout my life, both watching and participating - the benefits of participating have been huge to me in recent years, both physically and mentally. I passionately believe the benefits of playing in childhood provide a great platform for the future, and not to mention the social aspects (which is how I've met some of my best friends) it brings.
In terms of the marathon, I've had an injury already but I'm aiming to better my previous time of 3:51hrs. London is my former home and the marathong is the event I've always wanted to do, so I'll be sure to leave no stone unturned in the prep!
Thank you in advance for your donations, and I'll be sure to keep you updated with my progress.
Gaz