ON April 26th Henry Ball, an Old Monmothian, will be running the Virgin Money London Marathon in aid of the ABF - The Soldiers Charity.

Mr Ball, who graduated from Monmouth Boys School in 2008, joined 104 Royal Artillery Regiment based in Newport two years later. In October 2013, he deployed on a six month operational tour of Afghanistan.

Since returning he has married, and is expecting his first child.

Mr Ball has been training hard in the lead up to the marathon, as he was asked to move up from the ABF's reserve list with just 10 weeks to go.

He has said: "I am glad to be living in Wales, the hills have really added an extra element to the training and an additional challenge to the long distance runs.

"I'll be glad to run in London and not to have to worry so much about them!"

You can donate to his challenge via uk.virginmoney

giving.com/HenryBall

There is a charity gig on in Bridges Community Centre on 2nd May 2015, where the Mighty Pledge will be performing.

Tickets priced at £10 are available from Car Care, Monmouth.

Also tackling the infamous marathon for ABF is Monmouth fundraiser Emma King.

The ambassador for the charity will be running the Virgin London Marathon for the fifth time on 26th April.

The running enthusiast has been fundraising for the charity since 2009 when Monmouth soldier Jamie Gunn lost his life in Afghanistan, and she began to learn about the work the charity does.

Emma was recently invited by the charity to attend the Soldiering On Awards in London with them. The awards recognise some of the amazing servicemen and women who have achieved so much. Emma has met a number of people that the charity has helped and has been involved in a number of their high profile national campaigns, she is also the poster girl for this year's marathon.

Emma said: "The charity gives lifetime support to serving and retired soldiers and their families who risk so much for us, but for them, it's just doing their job.

"So far I have raised over £26,000 by running and jumping out of aeroplanes, but the charity still needs supporters to keep raising funds as there will always be soldiers that need help.

"I want to ensure that the charity can continue to help them which is why I am carrying on fundraising." If you would like to sponsor her then you can visit her Just Giving page http://www.just">www.just

giving.com/Emma-King2015/ to make a donation online, or pop to Kings Fee Spar where there is a sponsor form.

Even if it is just a £1 that you can spare everything counts as Emma is employed by Barclays who will match-fund her sponsorship