Rachel Bowman, Head of Customer at Hobbs, completed the London Marathon in a time of 4 hours and 15 minutes on Sunday 27 April.

Rachel was running to raise money for both Aid International Development and the Fashion & Textile Children’s Trust (FTCT), with 60% of the money raised going to us.

A large part of Rachel’s fantastic fundraising efforts were down to a sample sale at Hobbs’ London headquarters, which raised an incredible £5,400. Rachel has also arranged two fundraising pub quizzes, which have both been very successful and raising £400 between them (although presumably Rachel was on the lime and soda!).

Rachel said: “After a few months of training, plodding the streets and seafront of Brighton & Hove, Sunday was the perfect finale!! The weather was spot on – cool and cloudy, the crowds were incredible – so motivational, and my time was way better than I thought I would manage. It was the most amazing day.  And even better than that, I have raised nearly £7000 (with the support of Hobbs) which goes to two very worthy charities.

"The fashion retail market has been incredibly challenging so I chose to run for the FTCT, which supports families who work in my industry – it’s a wonderful caring charity. Having run the marathon several times before, I can honestly say that doing it for a good cause definitely has spurred me on and helped me stay motivated during long arduous runs. All in all, the London Marathon is the best experience EVER!”

Our director Anna added: “Rachel is an absolute superstar and we couldn’t be prouder of her! I’m always in awe or people who combine such intense training with amazing fundraising efforts like Rachel has. The money that she has raised for us will go towards supporting children from fashion and textiles families. With the dual challenges of child poverty and job losses on the high-street, that need will sadly only increase and we are hoping that others will be inspired by Rachel and fundraise for us in the future!”

Anyone who is interested in running the London Marathon for FTCT in 2020 can apply by contacting [email protected].