Our very own Donna Grant, based at HMP Norwich Visitor Centre as a Family Support Worker, is taking on the TCS London Marathon 2026 this Sunday 26th April in support of Ormiston Families.
Donna works on the front lines here at Ormiston Families, helping visitors to Norwich prison connect with their family members and loved ones in custody. Visiting any prison – especially for the first time – can be a daunting experience, but Donna and the team are there to explain the process, provide guidance and support and ensure the families feel seen and heard when they attend a visit day.
Donna excels at her job, always meeting our visitors with a friendly smile, making them feel comfortable and more positive. This is a crucial part of the role, especially when greeting the many children we see visiting their dads, uncles, brothers and loved ones at Norwich Prison. Closely linked to our Breaking Barriers service, the work we do at our 8 Visitor Centres across the region is amongst our most important, not only helping families feel at ease and more connected, but also proven to reduce prisoner re-offense rates by up to 39%.
So, to take things a step further (or, literally thousands of steps further), Donna signed up to run the TCS London Marathon, helping raise money for this vital service – and the other services that Ormiston Families provide across the region, including mental health support for children and young people, bereavement support and 7 other prison Visitor Centres to name a few.
Though she’s never run further than 10K before, Donna is well on her way to race day, completing the Great Yarmouth Half Marathon (pictured) on the 10th August and already smashing her fundraising target of £2,000. This Sunday, she’ll be joining more than 59,000 other runners to complete the 26.2 mile-long TCS London Marathon, stopping by some of the city’s greatest sights and landmarks on the way (though she may be a bit out of breath to appreciate them fully).
So far, Donna has raised a whopping £3,290 with 4 days to go until race day. An incredible fundraising achievement that we are so grateful to her for.
After Sunday, she’ll take a well earned break and rest up at home in Norfolk – probably with some dark chocolate.
If you’d like to help Donna with a final donation before race day, please check out her Enthuse page to donate.