Company executive Amani Kessi has entered the London Marathon to raise funds for Re-engage and, within days of setting up his donations page, he raced past his target of £2000. 

Amani, a 55-year-old father of four, who is based in Geneva, has completed the London run once before, as well as taking part in Madrid and Lausanne marathons. 

“I’m doing three or four easy runs a week plus a longer one on Sundays and I will gradually increase them by 5km until I’m doing a maximum of 60km a week,” said Amani. 

“I started running half-marathons in 2016 because I felt I had to do something about my fitness. Sometime later I saw a presentation about Re-engage and thought I would like to raise money for the charity. It does a very important job – making sure older people are valued. 

“I am from Tanzania where it’s part of our culture to take care of our parents and grandparents. But sadly, this is less the case in Europe where children tend to move away from their families leaving the older ones to look out for themselves. We have a duty of care towards our older people, to provide the love and support they need, to learn from their wisdom and give back what they gave to us. Raising this money will help achieve that goal. 

“I work with some very generous people and they have stepped up to help me hit my target pretty quickly.” 

As of 6 April Amani has raised over £4,000.