AM Surveying & Block Management Company Director Matthew Mackintosh signs up to run the TCL London Marathon 2022 taking place 2nd October 2022, in support of London based charity Intercountry Adoption Centre (IAC) which places children in need from all over the world with loving adoptive families.
In 2005, 50,000 official international adoptions were recorded worldwide. By 2020 this had fallen to less than 10,000 but millions of children continue to wait. IAC believes that children belong in families, not in institutions.
It can take an average IAC family four years from enquiring about adoption to having a child come to live with them. 96% or more of adoptions are successful, primarily because of adoption support. When things get tough, adoption agencies are there like an extended family.
Matthew is on the road to completing the 26.2-mile gruelling marathon run in an effort to raise £5k in support of IAC. When not training for the marathon Matthew and his team are responsible for the Block Management of 2,000+ residential units in blocks of flats across London and the South East. But, in aide of charity, Matthew is setting aside the laptop, switching on the voicemail and stepping out of the office to suit up as a first-time marathon runner!
Commenting on accepting the marathon charity-challenge Matthew says: “Life as a Block Manager can be like a marathon, there is no end to managing a building’s life-cycle and so our work is never done, it takes a great deal of patience, grit and determination and so I’m hoping that stands me in good stead for completing my first marathon. I’m super excited to bring whatever exposure I can to a small charity and raise funds for their great work across the world.”
Junior Property Manager and one of Matthew’s team; Ethan Barraclough of AM Surveying & Block Management is also taking on the marathon challenge on 2nd October 2022. AM’s two runners are charity-entrants for the TCL London Marathon 2022 and will join 40,000+ participants gearing up to run the 26.2 mile slog with its finish line a short distance from the front door of iconic Buckingham palace.
Four-time Olympian Mo Farah recently announced his return to the London Marathon for 2022, returning from his last appearance in 2019. Only time will tell if AM’s Matt & Ethan will be able to follow in the elite footprints Mo “Fly Mo” Farah to complete the race and achieve their goal for charity.
AM Surveying & Block Management is Block Management provider based in Aylesford, Kent managing blocks of flats and housing estates in London, Kent and the South East with a team of 30 staff within its Property Management, Building Surveying and Site Operations divisions.
MEET AM’s RUNNERS
Name: Matthew Mackintosh
Role at AM: Director & Head of Block Management
Age: 30
Marathon Experience: First time runner.
Marathon Finish Time Goal: To finish in one piece and complete a marathon for the first time
Training Regime: Running streets local to home by following the London Marathon Beginners Training Plan.
Q&A with Matt
Q: Are you nervous?
I haven't run a marathon before so I'm nervous about getting into the latter stages and how difficult it will be!
Q: How is training going?
It has its ups and downs! I recently run a half-marathon as part of the [London Marathon] Beginners Training Plan and managed to complete it in 2:15hrs. Just got to trust the training plan and hope on the day it pays off and gets me to the finish line.
Q: Why the London Marathon?
I feel like running a marathon is a good balance of difficulty vs achievability, hopefully more so achievable than difficult but we'll see!
Q: Any final words?
"I'll be suiting up as a Marathon Runner and hitting pause on my duties as a Block Manager for the day. I look forward to completing the run and showing its possible for anyone to accomplish a great challenge with determination! Thanks for supporting our chosen charity as we seek to hit our £5k goal."
Name: Ethan Barraclough
Role at AM: Junior Property Manager
Age: 19
Marathon Experience: London Marathon will be Ethan's second marathon.
Marathon Finish Time Goal: 4 hours & 30 mins
Training Regime: Completing 1-2 large runs (between 12-18km) per week with a smaller run (approx. 5km) in between to stop my body from stiffening.
Q&A with Ethan
Q: Are you nervous?
“I am not nervous about the marathon itself; I get a great deal of adrenaline which helps me throughout the race and is the main reason I am able to compete. I would say I am a little nervous about achieving my desired completion time though, as this is a half an hour quicker time than my previous marathon, so the pressure is certainly on to put in the work, and no doubt there will be similar nerves on race-day to do whatever I can to achieve this time.”
Q: How is training going?
“It could certainly be better, although my self-discipline has already increased massively since the 1-month mark until race day. I have heavily reduced my social activities for the next month to focus even more and training and have already carried out several runs this month as planned, no matter the time or weather.”
Q: Why the London Marathon?
“The London Marathon represents a new opportunity to do 2 things I am very passionate about: Raising money for great causes and pushing my physical and mental states to their absolute maximum! It is also a globally recognized event, which will make completion of such an achievement I will cherish for life.”
Q: Any final words?
"I cannot wait for this challenge; I'm going to give it my all. Thanks to the IAC and AMSBM for the opportunity, all of whom I'm sure I can make proud. Sir Mo Farah, watch this space!"
Running for Charity: Who Are Intercountry Adoption Centre – IAC?
IAC is a charity and working internationally to help to transform the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children.
Adopting through IAC not only means providing love, family and support to babies, children, and young people but it also means benefiting from IAC’s life-long support to the whole family. Adoptive-parents deal with challenges above and beyond most parents so without expert support and guidance from IAC, there is a chance that all the good could be undone.
Founded in 1997, IAC has worked with thousands of children and families during its 25 years in existence having grown from its early days as a support phoneline through to an international adoption centre as it is today. There are 15 million orphans needing families across the word and 3000 children in England who need adoption.
Satwinder Sandhu, CEO of IAC says: “IAC is 25 this year and this is an incredibly important milestone for the charity. The pandemic has meant that all charities are struggling and for us it has also meant that many of our adoptive families had even longer waits before they could meet their children. It is important to note though that the real work starts once children are adopted and settled. It is only then they and their parents can begin to make sense of their early life experiences and challenges, which have often been difficult. Unfortunately, there is no government funding for international adoption and very little for adoption support which is why fundraising through events like the marathon really is a lifeline for IAC’s adopted children. What Matt and Ethan are doing for us will literally change lives. We will be able to fund therapy and other expert services for children in need. We know these services work and keep children safe but the need for funding never ends because the need never ends. Please therefore dig deep and help Matt and Ethan smash their target and cheer them on to the finish line.”
Support AM’s Road to £5k Marathon
AM Surveying & Block Management’s marathon runners Matt & Ethan are running to achieve a goal of raising £5,000 in support of the work carried out by Intercountry Adoption Centre (IAC) and need your help!
Every donation helps hit and smash (!) AM’s £5k goal and raises funds for charity.
To donate visit: www.amsbm.co.uk/post/marathondonate.
Matt & Ethan are on the road to raising £5k for the IAC - Intercountry Adoption Centre and appreciate your support which makes all the training and running worthwhile.
Not in a position to donate? Lookout for AM’s posts on social media and like, share & comment in order to help spread the word!
No matter how you support Matt & Ethan on their road to raising £5k for IAC - Intercountry Adoption Centre, everyone at AM Surveying & Block Management sends their appreciation!
