I’ve been talking about running a half marathon for a while and some of the people I run with know I’d set my sights on the Cambridge Half. Unfortunately, it’s a popular event and I didn’t get a place. Disappointed, and with my heart set on Cambridge specifically, I weighed the choice between doing a different half marathon or waiting a whole year to try again.
I specifically did not consider applying for a charity place. To run it for a charity seemed like asking all my friends and family to fund me to do something I wanted to do anyway.
But a week later I realised it really was the Cambridge Half Marathon that I wanted to run: it has a great atmosphere, is local, is at a time of year when I’ll (hopefully!) be half marathon ready and lots of my friends are running it. I had a look at the charity pages and came up with an idea. I don’t give all that much money to charity – a few standing orders and the occasional donation to other peoples fund raising events. I figure I probably owe a bit in back pay to charitable causes. What if I apply for a charity place but cover the minimum donation myself? I get to run it with a clear conscience: win-win!
Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre
So why did I choose CRCC? Straight away I thought I’d scroll on past the big headline charity. Obviously not because it’s any less deserving, but because it’s already very well supported. CRCC stood out. It’s a small charity local to Cambridge and I also felt that perhaps there would be a stigma that some people would feel by association and so may attract fewer runners choosing a charity to support. When Katherine said exactly the same thing, my decision was pretty much made.
However, I wanted to find out a bit more about the charity although first let me mention a little piece of legislation called the Equality Act 2010. This act is like my best friend: it may not be perfect but it looks after me. Thanks to EA2010 I can’t be turned away at a shop or restaurant or not considered when applying for a job due to being transgender (in legal terms, I have the protected characteristic of Gender Re-assignment). In fact, I can’t be discriminated against in any* way.
Why the asterisk? There is an exclusion to allow single-sex services to deny service to transgender people under specific, limited conditions and the examples cited are rape crisis centres and women’s refuges. I was elated when I explored the CRCC website and found they were entirely trans-inclusive. In fact, the language they use goes beyond just being inclusive to positively embrace transgender people:
Our helpline is available for (self-defining) women and girls, including those with complex gender identities which include ‘woman’, and those who experience oppression as women. Self-definition is at the sole discretion of the individual in question.
I signed up immediately.
So why am I mentioning this?
If I’m planning on covering the minimum donation, why am I mentioning this? Wasn’t the point to be able to run with a clear conscience? CRCC is providing an immensely important service for those that need it. A world in which we didn’t need CRCC would be the ideal but until then they need funds to continue. How would my conscience be clear if I ran for them and didn’t try to raise as much as possible?
So whilst there is absolutely no pressure to feel you need to support me or CRCC, if you can spare a few pounds then it would be immensely welcomed. I’ve set up a My Donate page and set a goal a bit above the minimum amount. Can we reach it? Yes we can!