Aaron Smith and Richard Fairlamb from the Kennel Club are hoping to raise thousands of pounds for dogs by running the London Marathon...

Last year, Richard took over the role of Kennel Club Charitable Trust administrator. In this role, he receives letter after letter from charities desperately seeking support. Now, vowing to help as many as possible, he has decided to raise more money for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust.

Richard, along with his colleague Aaron, set about seeing how they could best raise money for the Charitable Trust together and decided that running one of the toughest challenges in the UK would do the trick.

Calling on the support of friends, family and dog lovers around the country, the two are hoping to raise more than £5,000 for the charity which helps make a difference to dogs’ lives by supporting research into canine diseases, assisting support dogs and providing much needed funding to a variety of welfare charities.

Aaron said: “Richard and I have been training hard for what is bound to be the most difficult challenge that either of us have ever faced.

"Neither of us are actually dog owners but we were keen to take part in the London Marathon to raise money for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust as we’ve seen the great work that it does to make a real difference for dogs.”

Richard and Aaron will be raising money at Crufts by training on a treadmill on the Kennel Club Charitable Trust Stand (Hall 3 Stand 52) at the Birmingham NEC from March 7-10.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Aaron and Richard should click here