‘I will never be cut’: Nancy and Gertrude are Kenyan girls about to face a brutal passage to womanhood.

Directed by Sara Nason, this documentary tells the story of two young members of the Pokot community in Kenya, who stood up to family and community to resist the traditional practice of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM). The film looks at how their actions influenced other young women and their families, changing minds and attitudes about FGM.

Join Christian Aid on 29th November from 7-9pm at the CCA, Glasgow, for a screening of the documentary film followed by an expert panel discussion and Q&A exploring the issue.

Introducing Poverty Over
Poverty Over is Christian Aid’s powerful manifesto which investigates why the developing world is still poor, and defines what needs to change to help bring an end to poverty.

In partnership, Christian Aid and the Guardian have created a series of investigative documentaries exploring key issues faced by the world’s poorest communities.

Free Tickets from the CCA Box Office 0141 352 4900 and more info on Facebook.

http://www.cca-glasgow.com/home

Done Running

I am, quite literally, done.

I ran my half marathon today in a time of 2:08:37.  To be honest, given the warmer than expected day (I have sunburn on my head!) and the random aches and pains, I’m quite happy with the time.  I still think I have a sub-2:00 in me, but today was just about getting round.

The people of Glasgow were amazing today.  Loads of people lined the whole route shouting, drumming, clapping and even spraying much needed water on the very hot runners.

Thank you all so much for all the messages of support on facebook, twitter, phone and email.  It was hugely encouraging to know that so many people were behind me.

And you have changed the world for the better.  I think when all the money comes in together we will have raised around £1,500 for Christian Aid.  (you can donate for another few weeks HERE)  That’s amazing.  That kind of money will change the lives of lots of people.  It will feed people, buy them homes, send them to school and help them to work.

You did that.  You changed the world.  Well done.

So, the final training totals are 60 hours of training, 600km run and 48,400 calories burned.

You have donated an amazing £1,132 to Christian Aid.  Thank you.

It’s one week until my half marathon run.  A week is a long time.  So much can happen in 7 days.

For me these 7 days will be spent on holiday, relaxing, eating well and a couple of easy runs to stretch the legs.

For the people of the Caribbean and the East coast of America the last week has brought devastation caused by a hurricane which has changed many lives.

In East Africa a week could be the difference between life and death.

Nick Guttmann, head of Christian Aid’s humanitarian division, talks about the situation in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia…

You can help me help Christian Aid by sponsoring my run at JustGiving.com/stewartcutler.

In just 3 weeks I’ll hopefully be basking in the satisfaction of having completed the Great Scottish Run half marathon but it hasn’t been plain sailing.

My training has been almost non-existent in the last three weeks.  I hurt my back lifting a heavy T-shirt so didn’t run for a couple of weeks and then the holidays and work made getting out on the roads difficult.

Today I’ll be out on my longest training run, 1 hour and 50 minutes.  I’ll let you know later how it goes…

The bigger news today is that I’ve taken a big jump forward in my fundraising.  The members of Blackmount, Libberton & Quothquan and Culter churches have donated an incredible £281.  Thank you so much!!!

That means that I’m almost at my £1,000 target.  When I set out on this adventure I set my £1,000 for Christian Aid as an aspiration.  I was never sure that I could raise that kind of money or run the kind of miles needed to train properly to run 13.1 miles.  I’ve been bowled over by people’s support, encouragement and generosity.  Thank you all so much.

I’ve run 514km, spent 51 hours running and burned an amazing 41475 calories.

I’m at 90% of my fundraising total with just 10 training runs left.  It would be amazing if you could help me reach that magic £1,000 before the run on 4 September.  £1,000 will pay for 2 wells or send 40 children to school for a year.  You did that.  You changed the world!

Your money will make a huge difference to people who are in desperate need of food and shelter.  Please help if you can.  Visit JustGiving.com/stewartcutler or text STEW72 to 70070 to donate.

Now, where are my trainers…

It’s 9 weeks until my half marathon run for Christian Aid and the miles are starting to ramp up, as is the temperature!  Summer has arrived and today’s long run (16k) was HOT!

Last week I ran 51.87km in 4:16:59 using 3144 calories.

I’ve missed a few runs over the weeks, mostly because of holidays, work and a sore ankle.  I’m at 54% complete and I should be at 62% but I’ve mostly missed short runs so I’m not that concerned.

You can now text donations using JustTextGiving!  It’s genius.  Just text STEW72 and either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 (e.g. STEW72 £10) to 70070 and then follow the gift aid link to add 25% if you are a UK Tax Payer.

You can still donate online at JustGiving.com/stewartcutler.

It’s just 10 weeks until I run my first half marathon for 10 years.

Training for the 13.1 mile (21km) race has been something close to an obsession.  Making time for 5 runs a week, some of them up to 90 minutes, has been a challenge but I’ve managed them all most weeks.  Most days I enjoy the running.  Some days I’m acutely aware of the freedom I have to run.  I can run where I want.  I know that I have food to fuel my run and friends and family to support my efforts.  I know that there are millions of people around the world who don’t have that freedom.

I’ve raised over £300 for Christian Aid so far which is amazing.  Thank you so much if you have donated already.

To make giving even easier you can now donate by text.  Just text STEW72 to 70070 to donate £5.

Your donations will help people around the world… like the people of Bethlehem who live behind the separation wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories…

Running this week has been pretty good.  I dug around the miCoach site and found that my race pace should be 10 seconds below the top of the green zone.  I’ve been struggling to get into the yellow zone and maintain that pace… it was just a little too fast.  I reduced the pace zones by 10 seconds and Friday’s threshold run was much more realistic.  I could actually get into the yellow zone.

I missed a short run on Sunday.  I felt better after the rest.

I’m not going to post the graphs unless you really want to see them.  If you do, just ask.

This looks like the last week of 2 long runs.  Killer Fridays start to become shorter interval and fartlek runs with Monday being the long run.

This week: Time 4:20:49, Distance 43:41, Calories: 3501.

As always you can sponsor me at http://www.justgiving.com/stewartcutler.  I’m running for Christian Aid.