Last March, my beautiful husband Tim had just died of cancer. I was trying to grieve and look after my two children Ted and Christabel aged 16 and 8, who had just lost their dad and were equally distraught and grieving themselves.

Just then, the pandemic hit and now we were on our own. I had to figure out how to keep our devastated family together during lockdown and not fall apart myself. The charities that support bereaved families were closed for months and we didn’t know anyone else in the same boat as us. 

But it was St Peters Hospice who came to the rescue as they had done when Tim was dying. Just when we needed them most, their brilliant psychological therapies team threw us a rope and offered emotional support to both children and gave me renewed confidence and courage to keep going. 

It takes guts to face the daily agony of knowing your dad will never come back. I’m so grateful to the therapists who helped my children find the courage and endurance to confront pain of this magnitude at such a young age.

St Peters offer support to children like mine all over Bristol who are struggling with the excruciating loss of a parent. And that’s despite the worst financial crisis and highest case loads in their history and all the complexities that COVID 19 has added.

But it's the sheer kindness of the people at St Peters that stands out to me. On top of their brilliant clinical skills and their commitment to relieve the suffering of death, it's the depth and reach of compassion they offer the whole family that is so exceptional. 

So in gratitude to these amazing and dedicated people at St Peters Hospice and in honour of his dad, Ted is taking on the Tour de Bristol again this year with a team of loyal friends and neighbours under the banner of Team Tim 2.

Ted: Son of Tim

Luke Velarde Banks: Ted’s life long friend

Nick Banks : Luke’s dad

Hugo Morely : A close family friend

Dominic Grant : Tim’s colleague from UWE

Brenton Hughes: Our heroic neighbour

Anton Fairweather: Our heroic neighbour on the other side

Gill: Reluctant cyclist

All of their care is free of charge, but St Peters is a charity and costs around £20,000 a day to run. More than ever before they desperately need cash to keep going. 

If you can afford to make a donation this year to support our team, I know the hospice will be incredibly grateful for every £1 you can spare.

Thank you to everyone for helping out! Gill X