A Nottingham runner has raised more than £2,500 for children's food and education charity Akshaya Patra UK after completing the 2026 London Marathon in support of disadvantaged children.
Rohil Shah, from Nottingham, crossed the finish line after months of training and fundraising for the charity, which works to tackle child hunger and educational inequality both in India and the UK. Rohil chose to support Akshaya Patra after visiting the charity's operations in Ahmedabad, India, during a family trip earlier this year. During the visit, he saw first-hand how the organisation prepares and delivers freshly cooked meals to thousands of schoolchildren every day. Rohil and his family toured the charity's large-scale kitchen facilities which produce around 60,000 meals daily, and visited local schools to meet teachers and students benefitting from the programme.
Rohil said: "In January I was lucky enough to head out to Gujarat and see the real impact this charity is having on the ground. I brought five members of my family along with me for this and the impact it had on us, the lasting impression, the incredible experience it was and just seeing how brilliant an organisation Akshaya Patra is made it all very worthwhile and consolidated the fact that this was the charity I'd like to support."
For more than 25 years, Akshaya Patra has worked to combat classroom hunger by serving nutritious meals to children, helping improve school attendance, concentration and educational outcomes. The charity now also runs programmes in the UK, including its award-winning after-school initiative Empower Hour, which provides nutritious meals and targeted tuition to disadvantaged children to help close the attainment gap. To date, Akshaya Patra UK has served close to 900,000 meals and counting through its UK initiatives while continuing to support large-scale feeding programmes for children in India.
