Carol Durn, Jeanette Nock, Sherie Haynes and Julie Cox Picture: CLARE HOMER Ref: 76785-17A GROUP of Swindon friends will be running the London Marathon after reading about a children's charity on the internet.

Sherie Haynes, 41, Jeanette Nock, 43, and Carol Durn, 47, work at Nationwide, and are training with Jeanette's twin sister Julie Cox, 43.

Sherie, a grandmother from Cheney Manor, said: "We watched the marathon last year and really admired the runners. It brought a lump to the throat."

They will be running for Get Kids Going, a charity that provides personalised wheelchairs, trikes and mobility aids for disabled children and young people.

Sherie said: "We read about the charity on the internet.

"We wrote to them explaining we were all mums and it had touched our hearts reading about the kids needing wheelchairs.

"Within a couple of days we had a phone call from the charity saying they were very impressed with our letter and they would guarantee us places in the race. At that point it all became a bit scary. The big challenge was not just getting fit but raising £1,000 each, which is what we have pledged to do."

The runners are raising the money through sponsorship and car boot sales.

Sherie said: "We are over halfway there and we are quite confident we will do it.

"All the girls have lost weight. I've only lost half a stone but Jeanette and Carol have lost over two stone each."

William Pitt, 33, is also running for the same charity.

William, a company director from Grange Park, said: "I've run some half marathons, and I thought I'd knock the marathon off my list of things to do.

"To raise money for the charity is a bonus."

Jane Emmerson, the charity's chief executive, said: "It's fantastic that so many people want to run to help disabled children and young people to get going.

"The average cost of a sports wheelchair is £3,000 so we're hoping the team will raise as much as they can for Get Kids Going."

Anyone interested can contact the runners through Nationwide at 21 The Parade, Swindon.

A SWINDON woman is hoping to raise awareness of autism when she runs in the London marathon.

Ronnie Holmes, a single mother of two, is running to raise funds for the Berkshire school where she works as a night support worker.

Prior's Court school in Hermitage is a special school for children diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum, who have learning difficulties.

Training has been going well, despite the pressure of a demanding job and looking after her two young children, Jade, four, and Ben, three.

She also suffered a bout of pleurisy earlier this year.

Dave Andrew