Veteran runner Mark Barun will run his first London Marathon

Mark has been heavily into activity and fitness since childhood. His main discipline is martial arts, particularly karate. But over the years he has taken part in many other sporting activities, including triathlon training, which he completed up to the half Iron Man stage. He is now a Personal Trainer, Karate Instructor and a Running Coach for GoodGym Richmond.

'These days I am as passionate about doing good for others as I am about fitness. This is why I chose to run for Richmond Carers Centre. This is a great opportunity to raise awareness and funds for all they do for carers in the borough.

In my journey of discovering where we can help others the concept of the carer was something I hadn't really considered. Yet it made me remember personal times where I have watched family members care for other family members, sometimes at the sake of their own health. To do this for anyone, related or not, is such a commitment and so often unrecognised in our society, where the focus is more often on the cared for with little consideration for what it means to devote oneself completely for the sake of another.

Without carers where does that leave the so many that need caring for?'

(use this link https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/5883#/DonationDetails to donate to Mark or go to www.richmondcarers.org)

Carers can be any age and every day more of us take on caring responsibilities. Caring for someone else can seriously impact a carer's mental and emotional health and wellbeing, and often leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness. Some carers may suffer financial hardship and debt as a result of leaving employment to care for a loved one.

Carers Trust estimates that 3 in 5 of us will provide a caring role at some point in our lives and Carers UK reported in November 2015 that the UK's 6.8 million carers save the government £132 billion a year. Carers make an incredible contribution to our community, yet caring for another person can a considerable impact carers own health and wellbeing. Below are some examples from Carers Trust of key facts about carers.

• 68% of young carers are bullied in schools and many school days are missed or cut short - the average was 48 days for those responding to a survey run by Carers Trust.
• 56% of young adult carers in college or university were struggling because of their caring role. 17% said they may have to drop out for reasons associated with their caring role and 13% said that they may have to drop out for financial reasons.
• 65% of older carers (aged 60–94) have long-term health problems or a disability themselves.
• One in five carers gives up employment to care.
• In a survey, 53% of carers had borrowed money as a result of their caring role and 60% had used all of their savings to cover the costs of caring.
• 68.8% of older carers say that being a carer has an adverse effect on their mental health and one third of older carers say they have cancelled treatment for themselves due to caring responsibilities.
• Up to 1.5 million people in the UK care for someone with mental ill health.
• There are currently 800,000 people living with dementia and 670,000 unpaid carers of people with dementia in the UK. Two thirds of people with dementia live at home and most are supported by unpaid carers. Of all the UK’s carers, 11% care for people with dementia. 
• By 2030, the number of carers will increase by 3.4 million (around 60%). 

Richmond Carers Centre offers free and confidential information, advice and emotional support to unpaid carers in the London Borough of Richmond.
If you think that you or someone you know may be a carer you can call the Carers Support Line on 020 8867 2380.

Article supplied by Richmond Carers Centre