Renowned journalists take on London Marathon to raise awareness of invisible disabilities

• The charity found that 3 out of 4 disabled people (72 percent) said they had experienced negative attitudes and behaviour towards them, in the past 5 years [1]
• A quarter (25 percent) of those surveyed said they had been accused of faking their disability [1]
• 4 in 10 (44 percent) said careless assumptions both reduced their confidence and self-belief [1]

Two internationally renowned journalists have teamed up to take on the London Marathon and raise money for the disability equality charity, Scope. 

Sky News presenter Saima Mohsin and her friend, Geo Television news anchor Muhammad Junaid, have joined Team Scope for the famous race, which takes place in the capital on Sunday, April 23. 
 
Saima has an invisible disability after an injury she sustained while on assignment for CNN in 2014. She lives with chronic pain and has restricted mobility on her left side. As she is unable to run the London Marathon herself, her friend Geo News Anchor, Muhammad Junaid, will run for them both. 

Together, they are using their public profiles to raise funds for Scope’s vital work, as well as awareness of invisible impairments and conditions.  

Muhammad Junaid, who lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan has been training for the marathon and will fly over to London on Wednesday, April 19, to take part in the iconic event.

Saima said:

“My life completely changed after I was injured. So many of us live with conditions people can’t see and don’t know what we are going through. But Scope understands. 

“The work Scope do to raise awareness and to support people living with visible and invisible disability is vital. My thanks to my friend and news presenter Junaid who’s doing the hard part - the running. I’m just cheering for him and for Scope - join us!” 

Muhammad Junaid said:

"It's one of the biggest honours of my life to run a marathon for a cause. We are often unable to realise the intensity of challenges faced by disabled people and Pakistan is one of the countries where there is not much awareness on the rights of disabled people. 

“Scope has brought a big change by helping millions of people in the UK, and by this collaboration to raise funds for Scope with my friend Saima - a resilient journalist who herself has been facing the challenge of living with an invisible disability - the message is strong and it’s the message of hope and care for millions of people in UK and Pakistan. 

“Sports can bring people closer, and together we are going to achieve that goal with London Marathon 2023.”

There are 16 million disabled people in the UK - that's 1 in 4 of us [2]. However, many impairments and conditions are not immediately obvious.

People who have an invisible impairment or condition often experience negative attitudes, social isolation and a lack of understanding. 

Scope has found that a quarter of disabled people with invisible conditions have been accused of ‘faking it’ or ‘being lazy’. 

James Taylor, executive director of Strategy at disability equality charity Scope said: 

“We are incredibly grateful to Saima and Muhammad Junaid for supporting Team Scope at this year’s London Marathon, as well as using their public profiles to talk about invisible conditions and challenge attitudes towards disabled people. 

“Disabled people with invisible impairments and conditions often experience negative attitudes, social isolation, and a lack of understanding.

“We all have a role to play in educating ourselves and need to work together to break down these barriers. 

“We’re so excited to have Saima and Muhammad Junaid alongside us to do this.”

Notes to Editors 

We’re Scope and we want equality for disabled people. We provide practical and emotional information and support when it’s needed most and we campaign relentlessly to create a fairer society.

[1] Scope research with Opinium Polling Ltd of 4015 disabled adults between 13th May and 20th June 2022 and weighted to be nationally representative of disabled adults in the UK. 

[2] Family Resources Survey, Office for National Statistics March 2023