As many of you know, our hearts were broken and our world turned upside down when we lost our sister Hannah to cancer last year. Receiving the diagnosis and giving birth to her precious daughter, Sadie only days apart.  Hannah sadly only got to spend 7 weeks with Sadie, and also left behind her beautiful boy Jude (then 22 months old), her husband, her parents and a big family who all adored her. Not to mention Hannah’s friends, work colleagues and the children she taught.

For me, it’s important to keep Hannah’s memory alive, and to support a charity that helped in her final weeks. I miss her so much. Her absence is greatly felt within our family. Every time her children smile at me, giggle, or do something new, I feel so proud but also heartbroken that I’m witnessing it and not Hannah. She is and never will be far from my mind.

Last year we had a huge and overwhelming response to our fundraising page for the charities that supported Hannah in the last few weeks of her life. We will be forever grateful to those services and charities that supported Hannah and for all those that so generously donated.

In honour of Hannah’s memory myself, Beth (Hannah’s sisters) and Catherine (a friend of ours and Hannah’s), want to continue to raise funds in Hannah’s memory. We have decided to take the huge personal challenge of completing the Great North Run to support Mummy’s Star. They supported Hannah in those precious last few weeks of her life and have been an ongoing source of support for Andrew, Hannah’s husband.

If you are able to donate and support us it would be really appreciated. Mummy’s Star is such a small charity, offering support to Mummy’s who are diagnosed with cancer in or around pregnancy. (2 people each day face a diagnosis in these circumstances). Their work is invaluable, they are the only charity of their kind and we can’t thank them enough.

The run will be tough as I’ve never ran anywhere close to 13 miles before, but nothing can compare to what Hannah endured in her final year, and that will keep me determined. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and this past year has taught me not to put anything off for another day.

Thanks for reading and donate if you are able to. Wish us luck with the training 😬 🏃🏼‍ 💞