A father will run a marathon to raise money for a charity set up in memory of a four-year-old boy who died of cancer.

Antony Berkin, of Brockley Holl, Stanmore, is running the London Marathon in aid of Elstree-based charity the Joely Bear Appeal.

The charity was set up by Leigh and Lisa Renak, who lost their son, Joel, to a rare form of liver cancer in 1994.

They launched the charity to help other young cancer patients and their families and encourage people to give blood.

Mr Berkin, 52, said: “I can’t think of any charity I would want to run for more. It’s a small charity but such an important cause.”

The accountant has completed bike rides for the charity before, and is now looking forward to the 26-mile race in April.

It will be his first full marathon and last week, he ran the North London Vitality half marathon in preparation.

He said: “It was fantastic, my family came to see me and there was such a buzz. Now I’m really looking forward to half a million people shouting my name as I run round the London route.

“However, I was very nervous last week and in five weeks I probably will be again.”

He hopes to raise £2,500 and with five weeks to go, he has collected nearly £1,600.

Even though he has not yet run this marathon, Mr Berkin is already planning his next project.

He added: “I’m getting quite addicted to marathons. At the moment I would like to do next year’s race.”

He is also considering taking part in a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro with his friend, Lee Renak, to raise extra money for the charity.

He said: “My wife’s immediate reaction was ‘you are not doing that’ because training just takes up so much time, so we’ll have to see”.

Mr Berkin will promote blood donation for the Joely Bear Appeal during the race by wearing the charity’s slogan ‘Give Blood not excuses’ on his marathon T-shirt.

To donate, visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/aberkinmarathon