A BORDERS politician is lacing up for the London Marathon – to raise money for a terminal illness charity.

MP John Lamont hopes to rack-up £5,000 through sponsorship from Marie Curie Scotland to pay for 250 hours of home nursing care in the region.

This will be his fourth marathon.

Last year, the member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk raised almost £4,000 for rugby legend Doddie Weir’s My Name’5 Doddie Foundation through taking part in events.

Mr Lamont told us: “The local Marie Curie team in the Borders are absolutely fantastic and they really deserve our support. Their dedicated nurses provide the type of end of life care we all want for our loved ones. This work makes a huge amount of difference to people to people with terminal illnesses and their families. I’m delighted that the money donated will allow Marie Curie to provide care here in the Scottish Borders. My target is to pay for 250 hours of care for terminally ill patients, giving them the choice to spend their final days at home, surrounded by loved ones in familiar surroundings.

“Training for a marathon is certainly not getting any easier and finding time to train at the moment is a challenge. However, I’ll be pounding the pavements in the Borders and in London over the next few months to get myself as ready as I can be and to seek to raise as much money as I can for Marie Curie.”

Mr Lamont will be joined by several fellow politicians at the event this year.

At least one MP has run in each of the 38 London Marathons since the first event in 1981.

Maureen Stevenson, from Marie Curie said: “Every one of us in the UK will be affected at some point by a terminal illness. When that time comes, we all want to be confident the right care will be there for us? That’s where Marie Curie comes in.

“Every day of your life matters, whether it’s the first or the last. Our nurses allow people to choose to be cared for at home, at end of life. We couldn’t do this without the help and support of people like John, who choose to fundraise for us. We would like to thank him for his help and support and wish him all the best with his training, fundraising and on the day.”

For more information on Marie Curie, visit: wwwmariecurie.org.uk/collect or to help in any way call local fundraiser Angela Davidson on 07720947331.

To donate, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/john-lamont-mp