MEMBERS of Malvern Joggers will be taking part in the London Marathon this weekend, and treating the event as a fundraising opportunity as well as a major athletic occasion.

Among those who are running the marathon to raise money for clauses close to their hearts are Malvern musician Sam Eden, who hopes to raise £2,000 for Arthritis Research UK.

He said: "It's in memory of my mum who passed away in February 2016 and suffered from arthritis for 30 years."

Sam Marshall is running for his grandmother whose last days were spent at St Luke's Hospice in Basildon, Essex. He said: "The support and care shown by the staff at St Luke's Hospice is still remembered today and as a family we have always tried to give back a little. Both my father and brother have run the London Marathon for St Luke's, and I look forward to maintaining the tradition."

Julia Heron won her place in the marathon via the Malvern Joggers ballot. She said: "Having the opportunity to run the marathon through the Joggers, I am putting the miles to good use to help raise funds in aid of the Brain Tumour Charity.

"As a survivor myself of a type of cancer that, thanks to funding into research, now has a 80 per cent chance of cure, it shows that our continuing support of these charities is a massive step in beating cancer."

Tristan Mitchell said: "I am running the London Marathon for Christians Against Poverty because they offer practical, effective support to people"

And Ros and Derek Goodman will be running on behalf of Motor Neurone Disease. Mrs Goodman said: "This is a particularly nasty condition which causes a progressive weakness to many of the muscles in the body for which there is no present cure. With your support we can help fund both treatments to ease symptoms and disability and, hopefully, discover a cure."

The marathon is on Sunday, April 23.