Shelter

Tom Nicholas

Tom Nicholas

Tom Nicholas

My Story

Hello, my name’s Tom, and I’m running the London Marathon.

Anyone who's known me for any length of time will know that (despite a strong season on my primary school’s netball team) I’ve never been a naturally “sporty” person.

When we were told in secondary school that we’d get detention if we forgot our PE kit three times in a term, I jumped at the chance to sit out of two lessons without consequence.

But, last Spring, I started running… and, for some reason, it stuck.

I ran 5K. I ran 10K. I ran a Half Marathon. I even managed to keep running through the long, cold, dismal British winter.

But, now I’m running the London Marathon. And I’m doing so for Shelter.

See, the United Kingdom continues to exist in a state of housing emergency.

In 2019, the National Housing Federation reported that:

  • 3.6 million people in the UK were living in an overcrowded home
  • 2.5 million were unable to afford their rent or mortgage
  • 1.4 million were living in “poor quality” homes, and
  • 400,000 were homeless or at risk of homelessness.

That was before a pandemic hit. That was before inflation began to skyrocket. That was before rising oil prices led to energy prices doubling.

This current scenario, in which absentee landlords can take advantage of the low-paid and young has become entirely normalised.

But I think it’s bad, actually. So, I want to raise some money for Shelter.

Shelter do amazing work supporting people with housing issues of all types, whether that's legal advice for people facing eviction, help finding emergency accomodation for those who have been made homeless or help reclaiming deposit money at the end of tenancy.

They also campaign to change the system itself, such as their present campaign to introduce a Renters' Reform Bill to scrap "no-fault" evictions and create a national landlord register so that renters can avoid unscrupulous landlords.

I hope you'll consider sponsoring me to run the marathon. And, if you want to shout some encouragement at your TV on the morning of Sunday 2nd October, that would be much appreciated too!

Thanks! Tom

Shelter

Raising for:

Shelter
211%

Funded

  • Target
    £2,000
  • Raised so far
    £4,210
  • Number of donors
    178

My Story

Hello, my name’s Tom, and I’m running the London Marathon.

Anyone who's known me for any length of time will know that (despite a strong season on my primary school’s netball team) I’ve never been a naturally “sporty” person.

When we were told in secondary school that we’d get detention if we forgot our PE kit three times in a term, I jumped at the chance to sit out of two lessons without consequence.

But, last Spring, I started running… and, for some reason, it stuck.

I ran 5K. I ran 10K. I ran a Half Marathon. I even managed to keep running through the long, cold, dismal British winter.

But, now I’m running the London Marathon. And I’m doing so for Shelter.

See, the United Kingdom continues to exist in a state of housing emergency.

In 2019, the National Housing Federation reported that:

  • 3.6 million people in the UK were living in an overcrowded home
  • 2.5 million were unable to afford their rent or mortgage
  • 1.4 million were living in “poor quality” homes, and
  • 400,000 were homeless or at risk of homelessness.

That was before a pandemic hit. That was before inflation began to skyrocket. That was before rising oil prices led to energy prices doubling.

This current scenario, in which absentee landlords can take advantage of the low-paid and young has become entirely normalised.

But I think it’s bad, actually. So, I want to raise some money for Shelter.

Shelter do amazing work supporting people with housing issues of all types, whether that's legal advice for people facing eviction, help finding emergency accomodation for those who have been made homeless or help reclaiming deposit money at the end of tenancy.

They also campaign to change the system itself, such as their present campaign to introduce a Renters' Reform Bill to scrap "no-fault" evictions and create a national landlord register so that renters can avoid unscrupulous landlords.

I hope you'll consider sponsoring me to run the marathon. And, if you want to shout some encouragement at your TV on the morning of Sunday 2nd October, that would be much appreciated too!

Thanks! Tom