24th Apr 2026

Charlotte prepares for her first London marathon

A Telford College learning support assistant has her sights set on raising £3,000 for charity as she prepares to run her first London marathon.

Charlotte Cain has chosen to raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society – a cause close to her heart as she has worked with deaf children and young people for the past 15 years.

She currently works at the college as a British Sign Language specialist learning support assistant.

“I’m raring to go, and really looking forward to the atmosphere,” she said. “I’ve never run the London marathon before but I’m part of a lovely community of runners and volunteers who tell me it’s going to be an amazing experience.

“My sister and I ran the Birmingham half marathon a few years ago and raised about £3,000 for Leukaemia Research after her husband was diagnosed.

“Following this race, she turned to me and said she was absolutely done with running, but I knew straight away I would have a full marathon on my bucket list!”

Charlotte ran her only other marathon last year in Leeds, and said she wanted to use her place at the London event to support a charity she knew had done incredible work and which she felt passionate about.

“Through volunteering, working in education and my studies, I have seen first-hand the support and resources that the NDCS offer including the amazing efforts of my colleagues and young people that I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

“I’d love to raise £3,000 again and have got a few other events organised after the marathon that should help to boost the total.

“The training has gone smoothly thankfully, but not without constant hunger or fear of injuries and illnesses. It’s been quite hard to fit the running around my working schedule, especially when the long runs start to creep into the two to three hour territory.

“Running is generally a big part of my life though. I volunteer at Parkrun every weekend. I sign the run briefing and then join the crowd and jump onto the course on Saturdays and I also help at the juniors or run with my son on a Sunday.”

Charlotte said she was focusing more on reaching the finish line, than her finishing time – but admitted she would be happy to beat her first marathon time of 4 hours 37 minutes.