A woman from Peterborough is running the 2024 London Marathon to raise money for the Sense charity, who help care for her friend's disabled son.

Nicki Parrott, 51, decided to fundraise for the disability charity Sense after her friend, Tina Lumsden-Din, 56, told her how much of a difference the charity has made to her family's lives.

Tina's son, Jay, 23, contracted meningitis when he was five-months-old. As a result, he has cerebral palsy, severe global development delay and epilepsy.

Jay visits the Sense services in Hampton, where his mum feels he is in a safe environment to try lots of new things.

Tina has told Nicki how important the charity are to her and her family, so Nicki decided to support her friend's family and take on the 2024 London Marathon.

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Nicki is a childminder and she began running during the Covid-19 pandemic when the gyms closed.

Once the world came out of lockdown, Nicki kept up her running and joined a local group. In 2023, she took part in the Great Eastern Run.

After completing that, Nicki decided to sign up for her first marathon, which will be on Sunday, April 21.

Now, she's got to tackle the 26 mile run, which she hopes to complete in under five hours.

Nicki said: "Jay is such a character who has a real twinkle in his eye, and you always know when he feels pleased with something.

"I'm looking forward to crossing the marathon finishing line knowing I've achieved something great."

Nicki has already raised over £2,200 for Sense. Her sponsor page can be found by clicking here.