A CAMPAIGNER who wants to raise awareness about the work of small charities is running 27 marathons in 26 days, one better than comedian Eddie Izzard.

Ed Wethered, CEO of the charity Raise Your Hands, will be passing through Stroud on September 18, running with a 6kg portable speaker on his back.

He is hoping to change the ways that charities engage with the community to make it more fun and will be offering free beer to runners at the end of the day.

"The point of the run is to raise awareness and money for small charities in the UK that work with children," said Ed, 33, whose grandparents lived in Stonehouse.

"They do amazing work, but no one has heard of them, because they don’t have big marketing budgets.

"We want to change the ways that charities engage with the community to make it more fun.

"That's why we are having live music and free beer at the end of each day and the public are welcome to join me on the marathons."

Mr Wethered said the way larger charities raised money was often 'dull' and 'boring' and that he wanted to introduce more fun to fundraising.

He found the charity Raise Your Hands in 2014 to create a more positive approach to philanthropy which encourages community engagement.

The route will visit the head offices of the 12 small charities supported by Raise Your Hands.

After a number of stops to visit some of the charities in London, the route will head down to Cornwall, up to Bristol and then onto Birmingham, before heading back down the Grand Union Canal to London.

"I have done a few marathons before but this is by far the biggest challenge I have ever done," he told the SNJ.

"I want to make it fun, and I am hoping people will join me along the way."

Sponsor Ed at bit.ly/2bjQxkG.

Find out more about Raise Your Hands at raiseyourhands.org