Nine times Claire Johnson entered the London Marathon ballot. Nine times she was rejected. This year, running for Oasis Trust, she finally gets her chance — and she is running for something much bigger than a personal goal.

Claire is the East Southampton Hub Team Leader for Oasis, an organisation founded by Steve Chalke that runs schools, community hubs, and social action projects in some of the most deprived areas of the UK. Her role puts her at the heart of the kind of work that rarely makes headlines but transforms lives: youth clubs, family support, mentoring, safe spaces for young people who have nowhere else to go.

The London Marathon, for Claire, is not just a fundraising vehicle. It is a way of making visible the work that her team does every day — work that is often invisible to those who do not live in the communities it serves. Every mile she runs is a statement that the young people of East Southampton matter, that their futures are worth investing in, and that the Church has a role to play in the most overlooked corners of British society.

Oasis Trust's approach is rooted in a theology of incarnation: the conviction that Christian mission means showing up, staying put, and becoming genuinely part of the communities you serve. It is not a model that produces quick results or dramatic stories. But over time, it produces something more durable: trust, relationship, and the slow transformation of neighbourhoods from the inside out.

Claire's marathon is a small but vivid expression of that commitment. If you want to cheer her on — or support the work of Oasis — her story is a good place to start.