Paul Mullen completes his 15th marathon for Barnardo's

I decided to undertake the 2010 London Marathon for Barnardo's due to a couple of reasons. The first was that I had a place via the ballot and thought that as Royal Mail sponsors Barnardo's, I would like to make my own contribution to the cause. The second was that my mother continually told me that it was pointless going through all the pain without raising some money for a worthwhile charity, so with 3 weeks to go I contacted Barnardo's to join the team!

As this was my 15th marathon, I knew the pitfalls to avoid as well as the likely pain I would endure along the way, I was more concerned with the rising daily weather reports telling me that it was going to be 24 degrees the hottest day of the year! On the day of the run we were actually drenched between 0900 and 0930 which cooled me down before the race had even started. The weather was humid and slowed me down somewhat but I can't complain  as the clouds above stopped the temperature getting too high and I finished in a respectable 3:48.

The highlight was the wonderful support from all the crowds throughout as well as the noisy but fantastic support from the Barnardo's support team, especially on the Embankment which gave me that little bit of motivation at 24 miles when I was flagging as well as the support of my wife and 2 daughters on Birdcage Walk! I also enjoyed passing Gordon Ramsey and Jenni Falconer at 6 miles and less so when Jenni came past me at 16 miles looking as fresh as a daisy, Gordon was no-where to be seen.

I would also like to thank the Barnardo's staff for their support and kindness at the finishing area and the recuperation area, supplying food drinks and a massage, it felt genuine and was most appreciated by all those that participated. Never again was said for the 15th time, it lasted about 2 hours!!

CRICKET-MAD youngster bowled over by newly decorated bedroom

A CRICKET-MAD youngster was bowled over by his newly decorated bedroom – thanks to dab-handed colleagues at Nottingham mail centre.

A local family was struggling as their seriously disabled daughter needed a bigger bedroom which meant her brother Hassan had to move out of his.

Our team was happy to roll up their sleeves and give Hassan’s new room a makeover. With the help of a £500 community grant from Royal Mail they bought furniture and memorabilia for the sports-mad nine-year-old.

‘Hassan was thrilled with his room, particularly the cricket bat signed by the Pakistani cricket team I managed to get for him,’ says Kevin Dickinson, a night shift manager. It’s great he’s got his own space where he can relax and just be himself.’

CRAIGAVON DO

There are many easy ways to raise money for charities but easy doesn’t always interest the employees at Craigavon Delivery Office. When they recently set themselves a challenge to fund-raise for Barnardo’s they wanted to ensure that it would be a real challenge.

As an office that has a long history of fund-raising they were looking to do something completely different. After much discussion someone suggested that they pull a Royal Mail lorry from Portadown along the 7 mile route to the town of Lurgan. So on the first May Bank Holiday they set off with their Barnardo’s Banner and buckets and helped relieve the passing public of over £1.000 along the route for our nominated charity.

Event organiser Eddie Drury who is a Postman at the Craigavon Office said “when we discussed this at our meeting with Barnardo’s Northern Ireland Representative Lynn McNutt she thought that it was a great idea. We’ve a few more fund raising events planned for over the summer and will be keeping with the theme of “something completely different”.