Every year I see people, both young and old, taking part in a wide range of activities for Sport Relief. From children baking cakes at clubs and schools to a ten mile run, there are plenty of events anyone can and should sign up to. After leaving school I have felt that I have done less and less for charity events and appeals such as Sport Relief and Children in Need, as I can no longer donate money on non-school uniform days. So I decided this year to take part in a three mile run as part of Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games. As I go running regularly, either on the field I live next to in Cambridge or along the seafront in Bournemouth, the distance and fitness required for the event was not going to be much of a problem for me. Although I wanted to take on the challenge with other BAMMJ’s (a term us Multimedia Journalists call ourselves at Bournemouth University) Robert Cain, Natalie Whitmore and Tomas De la Rosa, to make it more of a memorable and fun event.

We trained hard for the race and managed to raise a total of £150, which we are all very pleased about. On the day of the event we unfortunately lost a team member as Tomas suddenly fell very ill. However Natalie, Rob and I managed to complete the circuit at the Littledown Centre in Bournemouth, feeling very proud that we had played a part in Sport Relief 2014. Seeing children as young as three years old running the circuit, whether it was one, three, or ten miles made me smile each time I overtook one of them whilst running. Taking part in charity fundraising events really can just be the smallest of things. It does not need to require months of training for a Swimathon to challenging cycle rides. Sometimes it is just the little things like a Fancy Dress sponsored walk that can make such a big difference.

Seeing people like Television Presenter Davina McCall, going the extra mile for Sport Relief by running, swimming and cycling from Edinburgh to London in seven days also inspired me to take part in Sport Relief this year. Part of her challenge was even life threatening as she had to be carried out of the water after completing a 1.5 mile (2.4km) swim in a freezing cold Lake Windermere. But despite this scare, she managed to complete her BT Sport Relief Challenge: and raised a total of £2,239,931. Her stunning effort will help change many lives in the UK and around the World. The current sport relief total this year stands at £53,370,743. More than £51m of it was raised on the live Sport Relief show, breaking last year’s on-the-night record. One of the highlights of the show was David Beckham starring in a sketch of Only Fools and Horses, eleven years after its last broadcast. Kyle Minogue, David Walliams and Sebastian Coe also took part in the six-hour BBC show.

I am proud to say I participated in an event for Sport Relief 2014 that I hope will inspire others. It was a very rewarding event and next year I hope to raise more money, complete something more challenging and again push myself to achieve it.