Our challenge

On the evening of Saturday 22nd October 2022 the children and I, along with my brother Marcus and friends Lexy, Andrea & Julie and their families will be taking part in the Sue Ryder Starlight Hike 2022 - Thames Valley. Our team, Ivan’s Immortals will be trekking in the dark the 5km route around the grounds of Pangbourne College to raise funds for Sue Ryder in Ivan’s memory. 

Our Sue Ryder experience 

Sue Ryder helped my husband, Ivan Hooker throughout his illness especially in the last 6 months of his life following brain surgery in March 2020. The lovely Sue Ryder nurses provided invaluable support to our family enabling Ivan’s wish to spend the rest of his days at home surrounded by his family. The precious time Ivan got to spend each day with our children was hugely important to his well-being and with the help of the nurses we were able to celebrate special occasions and continue to make memories together. It was an immensely difficult and intense period of our lives caring for Ivan in the first CoVID lockdown. But Sue Ryder’s support went beyond helping with Ivan’s care, their kind words of encouragement and an ear to listen helped me feel I wasn’t dealing with the situation alone. Their support continued with bereavement counselling. 

We shall forever be grateful of their support. So it would mean a lot to us if you able to sponsor our walk so we can help Sue Ryder help other families like ours, thank you.

About Sue Ryder

Sue Ryder supports people through the most difficult times of their lives. Whether that’s a terminal illness, the loss of a loved one or a neurological condition – they’re there when it matters. Their doctors, nurses and carers give people the compassion and expert care they need to help them live the best life they possibly can and receive the end-of-life care they need and deserve.

Last year Sue Ryder provided over 830,000 hours of care to thousands of families across the country, including from our local Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice and Sue Ryder Palliative Care Hub South Oxfordshire.

How your donations help

84p in every £1 spent goes towards our palliative, neurological and bereavement support.   

£20 could pay for a patient’s meals for the day in one of our hospices.

£21 could help fund an hour of expert care and help fill another family’s final days with love.

£60 could provide one complementary therapy session, such as massage, aromatherapy and reiki. These help improve feelings of well-being and alleviate symptoms such as anxiety, breathlessness, pain and feeling sick.

£145 could help pay for a Sue Ryder Nurse providing expert, compassionate care for a day.

£500 could help fund another 24 hours of expert care so that someone can spend their final days in familiar surroundings, with treasured memories and their family.

It costs around £3,244 for someone to be cared for at home in their final days by a Sue Ryder Hospice at Home Nurse.

£13,000 would pay to run one of our Sue Ryder hospices for a day. Our dedicated hospice teams include doctors, nurses, care assistants, occupational therapists and family support teams filling final days with kindness and love.

A generous gift of £40,000 would pay for a Sue Ryder Nurse for a year helping to fill more families' final days with love.