Atlas Trustee Ben Nicholson is running the London Marathon!

The 2024 TCS London Marathon falls on the 5th anniversary of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka in which our family suffered the devastating loss of my wife Anita and children Alex and Annabel.   

I will be running the London marathon in memory of Anita, Alex and Annabel, as well as the many others who lost their lives or suffered injuries in the bombings.   

Running has played a huge role in my recovery from the loss of Anita, Alex and Annabel and it feels very fitting to be running one of the world’s most famous events on this anniversary. 

I am very happy to be joined in this run by my good friends Pablo Diago and Patricia Sanz.  We train together in the Singapore heat and humidity and along with other friends here they have supported me in my “running therapy” since Colombo. 

I will be fund raising for two causes at this event, Muscular Dystrophy UK and The Anita, Alex and Annabel Nicholson Memorial Fund. 

Muscular Dystrophy UK  

Muscular dystrophies are a group of debilitating condition which causes progressive loss of strength and often results in significant physical impairment and reduced life expectancy for those carrying the condition.   

Muscular Dystrophy UK is a charity that provides expert support for people and their families who suffer from over sixty different muscle wasting and weakening conditions. 

MDUK also funds important research into finding new therapies and treatments for those conditions.  

Muscular Dystrophy UK is a charity that resonates for our family as we have a family member who suffers from MD.  I am so full of admiration not only for him, but also his parents and sisters in the inspirational way in which they carry on as a family and go out to maximise every day.   So I am very happy indeed to be running in the MDUK team at the London Marathon 2024. 

If you would like to support Muscular Dystrophy UK, please donate here. 

The Atlas Foundation Anita, Alex & Annabel Nicholson Memorial Fund 

Since the Colombo bombings, we have had huge support from family, friends, colleagues and some large corporate donors (including a major fundraising event with AON Singapore to establish the Anita, Alex & Annabel Memorial Fund in partnership with Jason Leonard’s Atlas Foundation charity.   

We have raised over half a million pounds and have been using it to fund projects in Cambodia, The Philippines, India and Singapore, helping to improve the lives and life chances of some of the most disadvantaged children in Asia.  In general, we support projects which have a core rugby programme and look to add value by helping the projects to develop or expand the educational support provided for the children who use the project.   

We have also started a mixed ability rugby programme in Singapore which provides children with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to participate in a team sport alongside and supported by their mainstream peers.   

The impact of all of these projects on the children they support is clearly visible.  You can see specific examples of the projects on Atlas Foundation social media and on the website.  The Memorial Fund is supporting.  

We want to continue to support these projects for the long term and also expand the number of projects we support.  If you would like to support us in doing that then please donate to the Nicholson Memorial Fund.