A FORMER chairman of Ealing Eagles Running Club is in line for a top blogging award.

Andy McFarlane, 39, has returned to the UK after spending 10 months in Sierra Leone, where he recorded his experiences via his Home Salone blog.

Now his work been shortlisted in the Travel category of the 2017 UK Blog Awards, the largest awards event for the UK blogging scene.

And the keen runner, who took part in last year’s Sierra Leone Half Marathon, says the support of his former clubmates was crucial in the public vote that decided the shortlist.

“Loads of Eagles followed my adventures, encouraged me to keep writing and then voted for me. I’m really grateful,” says Andy.

“As we’ve seen with the Ealing Half Marathon’s success in awards, having the club behind you is like having Usain Bolt on your relay team.”

Andy has been an Eagle since 2011, was treasurer for 2012/13 and chairman during 2013/14.

His wife, Clara Burton, 33, was club secretary between 2013 and 2015. The couple lived in Hanwell with their daughter Aoife, now two, before moving to Freetown when Clara took a job with a development charity.

“My blog initially started as a way of keeping friends and family informed of what we were up to when we moved to Sierra Leone, as well as recording some pretty memorable family experiences,” says Andy, who works as a journalist.

“My daughter was only 17 months old when we moved so she won’t remember life in Africa, but it’s a great way to document that part of her childhood for her.”

The family had to regularly cope with blackouts and water shortages but the blog also focused on the positive aspects of living in West Africa, such as access to its beautiful beaches and unspoilt jungle.

“Sierra Leone is also a tough place to live, and there isn’t a lot of information available for expats so I thought my website could help address that,” said Andy.

“Home Salone aims to shed light on real life in a place that’s mostly associated with civil war and Ebola by writing about its beauty, and the fabulous characters you meet, as well as its grim realities.”

Andy counts running the Sierra Leone Half Marathon, organised by the charity Street Child, among the highlights of his time there and encourages fellow runners to take part in the event.

“It’s not somewhere you go to run a new personal best but you’ll never forget the experience of meeting some of the people who’ll benefit from the money you raise,” he says.

Panels of experts in each category sector will judge all shortlisted entries and Andy will find out if he has been crowned the winner at the acclaimed awards event in London on 21st April, sponsored by ODEON.

“I was delighted even just to be shortlisted,” he says. “Being a finalist justifies all the time and hard work spent on the blog, which can be a challenge in a place where power and internet access are extremely unreliable.

“I would love to bring my stories together for a book one day, and this might be the springboard that helps me get there.”

You can read Home Salone at: expatfamilyfortunes.com.

Andy is among eight finalists in the travel section, sponsored by LEGOLAND Windsor Resort. The UK Blog Awards, which celebrates the country’s best creative writers, photographers and vloggers across 17 categories.

“The 2017 UK Blog Awards is set to be our biggest and best yet, and we’re so excited by the shortlist of talented bloggers,” says Gemma Newton, UK Blog Awards Director.

“The rise of social media channels has changed the way online content is perceived and the world of blogging and vlogging has never been so creative or influential.

"With 2,400 entries, and over 96,000 votes cast, the finalists have done extremely well to get to this stage, and we look forward to recognising their hard work at our awards night in April.”