My Story

Hello there you! Yes, you! 

I’m fundraising for #TeamSignHealth!

Since I have known that I was accepted to run at the London Marathon 2025 for Team SignHealth, my dream has truly become a reality.

Why am I doing this?! Read on…

As a deaf person since birth, throughout my life I have experienced and still do face numerous challenges in day to day communication. It can be difficult to navigate environments full of background noises, overlapping conversations, not being faced directly and becoming exhausted from lip reading. The list can be endless and every deaf person encounters his or her own unique feelings and experiences.

Since the coronavirus lockdown, there has been a worrying trend and increase in mental health issues within the deaf community. Unfortunately there has been inadequate information and access to professional mental health support for deaf people as the following statistics indicate:

  -57% of deaf children have mental health problems

  -Deaf young people are 3 times more likely to suffer abuse

  -Deaf adults are twice as likely to experience mental health issues

  -Only 37% of British Sign Language users are in employment

  -67% of deaf people reported that no accessible method of contacting their GP was made available to them

  -Nearly 80% of deaf patients had an appointment that did not meet their communication needs

Mental health today still has a lot of stigma surrounding it, often because people do not understand mental illness and often have wrong ideas about it. Often times people with mental health issues keep worries to themselves and lack courage to speak up and acknowledge that it’s ok not to be ok.

This running journey for me is my way of honouring the memory of Gemma Wiseman. Gemma was one of a kind, a friend to all with infectious laughter which I sorely miss.

Your donation will really help me as I take on this tough mentally and physically demanding challenge something I never thought I would have the privilege to attempt.

Lots of love,

Victoria

About us

The London Marathon has become an annual, inspiring and colourful fixture in the world’s sporting calendar since the inaugural race on 29 March 1981: a celebration of fun, fundraising and fancy dress.

Over the years more than a million people have completed the 26.2-mile course – which runs from Blackheath to The Mall, with a spectacular finish in front of Buckingham Palace, showcasing the very best that the capital city has to offer.

What’s more, these participants have raised over a billion pounds for charity and there have been countless amazing tales of human achievement throughout the event’s history – living up to its aim of helping participants ‘to have fun, and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world’.