A Kenilworth runner has been "blown away" by a local gym's offer of free membership as he trains for this year's London Marathon.

Tom Griffith announced in January that he would be completing the race this October to raise funds for JDRF.

The father of one said he chose the type one diabetes charity having seen the impact the condition has had on his wife, Amy.

Having seen Nub News' previous article, Kenilworth-based gym Anytime Fitness got in contact with Tom to offer free use of its facilities as he prepares for the 26-mile course.

"The offer from Anytime Fitness is of course incredibly kind," Tom said.

"It was completely out of the blue. They sent me a message on Instagram saying they wanted to offer any help they could and then gave me a free membership until the marathon.

"The offer blew me away really; it was completely out of the blue and completely unexpected."

Club manager Paul Blackwell, who has run two marathons himself, said he was delighted to help out.

"I saw Tom was very local, and just thought I would reach out to him. What he is doing is for a great cause and the backstory with his wife is really important," he said.

"This is a small gesture, but one that can hopefully make a difference.

"That's what we're all about.

"Kenilworth is a small community and it is important that we are doing things to help locally.

"For example, at Christmas we gave toys to kids at Warwick Hospital and to Zoë's place. We are always keeping our eye out to see where we can help."

To kick start his fundraising for the marathon, Tom started selling tickets for a raffle taking place on March 6.

He had originally set a £2,000 fundraising goal for October but with a week left until his first fundraiser he has already passed that target.

"I started in mid January and it just went wild," he added.

"In the first week we went over £1,000 – it went completely mad.

"I didn't expect it to go down so well."

Tom also offered a teaser to encourage donations, promising to run in a fancy dress costume if he raised £2,000 by the start of March.

Having now reached the milestone he is planning to do a poll on social media for costume suggestions.

And with a week left to go before the raffle he is also encouraging more people to get involved.

"Obviously there has been support from friends but also from complete strangers," he said.

"I have even had a donation from someone in Germany. A complete stranger who saw my Instagram post and wanted to donate something.

"And any donation no matter how big or small is still appreciated.

"If people don't want to buy a ticket, even sharing a post on social media makes a huge difference because you never know who will see it."

To buy a ticket, and to see the full list of prizes, please follow this link.