Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  On April the 25th 2010 I'm running the London Marathon on behalf of St. Michaels Hospice (Hastings).  Those of you who know my previous experience with any kind of sport and injuries will appreciate how much of a challenge it will be for me to stay injury free for 26.2 miles.  But so far so good!

St. Michaels is based in and provides palliative care whether in the hospice itself or through their Hospice at Home team.  In essence palliative care concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than attempting to halt, delay, or reverse progression of the disease itself.

Last year they gave the following support:

·                     Care for 400 in-patients

·                     2,300 Hospice at Home visits

·                     2,200 booked day care attendances

·                     1,000 patients seen in out-patient clinics

·                     Over 175 domiciliary visits

·                     A comfortable home for our Nursing Home residents

While palliative care may seem to offer an incredibly broad range of services, the goals of palliative treatment are extremely concrete: relief from suffering, treatment of pain and other distressing symptoms, a support system to help the individual live as actively as possible, and a support system to sustain and rehabilitate the individual's family.

Palliative care is in my opinion one of the most undervalued forms of medical care so any help you can give would be greatly received. 

Every year St. Michaels face the challenge of raising the £5 million they require to maintain their current level of services.  Approximately 22% comes from NHS grants and 18% from fees in 's (their adjacent Nursing Home). This leaves £3.2 million to be raised from voluntary sources. This is quite a target so everything you can donate will be going to a great cause.

Many thanks,