CHIPPENHAM student Matthew Pentecost is running the London Marathon to raise money for cot death research, in memory of his sister Dawn, who died from the syndrome before he was born.

Matthew, 18, of Plantation Road, Chippenham, is running the 26-mile event on April 14 with friend James Weston, 19. The pair are both students at Chippenham College.

Matthew is raising money for The Foundation For The Study Of Infant Deaths, which researches cot deaths, and hopes to raise more than £250.

Dawn Pentecost died on April 13 1981. Every week in the UK seven babies die from cot death and more babies over one month of age die as a cot death than from any other cause.

"I didn't know Dawn but it would have been nice to know her," said Matthew, who has been training three times a week for the marathon.

On April 14, Matthew's parents, Linda and Roger, and sisters Sarah-Jane, 22, and Michelle, 16, will be at the London course to cheer him on.

"We have been running about 18 miles per week in training and I have been training for about a year, and we're looking forward to the run," added Matthew. He and James also plan to collect money outside Safeway in Chippenham, where Matthew works part-time.