AN ADDINGHAM man is training hard in preparation for his seventh half marathon.

Graeme Pullan, 52, of Main Street, will take part in the Sheffield Half Marathon, on April 12.

He is using the event to raise money for The Revival Centre in Matugga, Uganda, a UK-registered charity. The Revival Centre was established by Pastor Ivan Luolobi in 2001 as a primary school of 30 pupils, giving an education to children in the hope it would help them escape from a life of poverty.

It has now grown into a primary school of 450 pupils, a secondary school of 350 pupils and an orphanage for 150 children, with a clinic and a busy church. However, currently income is not enough to meet the basic needs of the children such as food, clothes and beds and facilities desperately need to be improved.

Graeme, a well-known fundaiser, who was honoured at the Telegraph & Argus Community Star Awards in 2014, said: “The charity was suggested to me by Pat and Peter Stockdale, who go to Christchurch. They asked me if I would do it for that as they have been involved in it for years.

“I have been told it is a very worthy cause, so I am already training hard, and hope to raise a lot of money.”

Graeme, who next month takes up a voluntary job at Ilkley Playhouse selling programmes, completed the Leeds half-marathon last year, raising £600 for ARK, a group from St John’s Church in Ben Rhydding catering for individuals with special needs.

He then tackled the Great North Run in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in September, adding more than £1,250 to the thousands he has raised for charity through the years.