A REDDITCH man, who has secured a place in the 2013 London Marathon, is urging other participants to join him in supporting the NSPCC’s ChildLine service.

Martin Chadbourne, aged 43, who works at Matalan, has run the London Marathon since 2010, all in support of the NSPCC, and raised about £40,000 with the support of his Matalan colleagues.

He said: “As a father to a beautiful daughter, I know the importance of children having the best start in life. But not all children are as fortunate, and the NSPCC’s work is vital in making the lives of children better and ensuring they have someone to turn to, so I wanted to do something to help them. I work for Matalan who as a company support the NSPCC, so the charity was the perfect choice.

“Each run I’ve completed has been inspired by my daughter and you see so many other runners with different reasons to run and it makes me so humble to be part of it once again.”

Money raised for the NSPCC through this year’s marathon will support the ChildLine service, the UK’s free, confidential 24-hour helpline and online service for children and young people. Through ChildLine, the charity offers support to thousands of young people each year who have been in abusive or distressing situations.

Every runner who supports the NSPCC through the London Marathon will receive expert advice and training plans from Olympic athlete Liz Yelling, including an NSPCC training day where they will get to meet Liz and have one on one coaching.

On race day the NSPCC will have five of the loudest and brightest cheer points helping its runners round the course, and those taking part will receive an NSPCC running vest and post-race reception with food, drink and a well-deserved massage.

For more details on running for the NSPCC, call 0207 825 2621 or email GoRunning@nspcc.org.uk.