Emily Williams, a fourth-year pharmaceutical science student on a placement year at chemistry company Lubrizol’s UK Technical Centre in Derbyshire, is raising money for Mind by running the capital’s famous marathon in 2025.
Emily said she hoped to make her family proud, especially brother Ben – a former Olympic triple jumper who competed at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“Ben has always been someone I’ve looked up to pretty much my entire life!” she said. “The Olympics has always been his personal goal and seeing him get there and achieve his dream was really emotional.”
Now Emily, who hails from Newcastle-under-Lyme, is proving sport is in her blood by taking on the London Marathon on April 27, and proud brother Ben will be cheering her on.
Emily herself is no stranger to the sporty life with an impressive track record as a trampolinist for which she competed at national level.
But she has not always been a runner and this is her first marathon.
Emily said: “I saw a poster for the London Marathon and thought it would be a nice achievement. I’ve never run seriously before, taking part in different types of sports and activities. Mental health means a great deal to me and I’ve faced some issues personally. The accessibility of help for mental health challenges is quite a significant issue and I’ve known Mind to be a great charity that does a number of incredible things.
“Of course, the marathon itself is a mental challenge as well as a physical one so taking part in the event for this particular charity seems fitting.”
Emily is busy training and fundraising for the big day on April 27 and has raised a significant amount towards her target of £2,200 with the help of a donation from her generous employers at Lubrizol, where Emily is using her pharmaceutical science degree in the company’s product safety and compliance team.
She said the opportunity to do a work placement year at Lubrizol had been “incredible” and she felt blessed by the company’s support towards her marathon.
“It’s incredible to work at Lubrizol,” she said. “It’s an opportunity that I didn’t think I’d be able to get at this point in my life. The community at Lubrizol is so kind and everyone is lovely to each other. It’s been such a good year.
“Lubrizol has made an incredibly generous donation to my marathon and I’m so grateful. It’s great to work at a company that places such importance on people’s volunteering efforts for good causes.”
Back at home, Emily’s training runs regularly take her along the beautiful Salt Line route and she says she is now just looking forward to the day itself.
“I’m just really excited to do it – it seems a great thing to be part of.”
Claire Hollingshurst, from Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee which donated to Emily’s fundraising, said: “Giving back is very important to us at Lubrizol and we were delighted to benefit Emily’s fundraising support with our pound for pound matching scheme. Mind is such a highly valued charity and as a company we have raised significant sums for them in the past. It’s great that Emily is doing the London Marathon for Mind and we wish her all the very best!”
Anyone who would like to donate to Emily’s marathon can do so here: www.justgiving.com/page/emily-williams-2025