So, I am afraid I am back!! Such a huge number of you have been so unbelievably generous in supporting my fundraising campaign over the last couple of years. As I expect most of you know, Holly Sumner (my childhood best friend) passed away in February of last year after a long battle with Leukaemia. I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Hol in her last few weeks of her life by which point she knew she would be spending her last days in Ashgate Hospice. It was decided there and then that I would run the Sheffield Half Marathon on their behalf. Hol told me she would be there cheering me on. Unfortunately, Holly’s “months” that she was given to live was literally just over a month and she never made it to the race but she would have been laughing her head of at me for running so far - for her. I know she would certainly have been waiting with a glass of fizz or two for me when I finished!!

So Hol….now you can laugh even louder and even harder because I have somehow got myself roped in to run a MARATHON!! Not any old marathon either…the London marathon. What started as a conversation one evening on holiday last summer (perhaps after a glass or two of vin blanc) has turned into a crazy reality and in April 2024 I will be running the London marathon to raise money for Ashgate hospice.

I am under no illusion that all of your generosity for Sheffield Hospitals, DKMS and Ashgate Hospice so far has been entirely for Holly, not me, so let’s keep smashing it! Running doesn’t fill the gaping hole that Holly left in my life (as I know she has in so many of yours), raising money won’t bring her back - but for now, it gives me a goal and an aim and a focus. Times are hard, everything costs more and that includes the care of terminally ill patients who require the services of Ashgate Hospice. Places such as Ashgate rely, pretty much entirely, on fundraising to provide the incredible service they offer to terminally ill people and their loved ones so that they can spend their last days and weeks in comfort and with dignity.

The last thing Hol told me when we said our goodbyes that day back in February was that she was scared (I don’t think I’ve actually admitted that to anyone yet as it’s too hard to say) but I know from speaking to Leigh, Chloe, Alison, Geoff and Adam that Holly wasn’t scared in her last 24 hours as she was comfortable and surrounded by the people she loved most in the world. All of that was thanks to Ashgate Hospice.

So, let’s raise some serious money so that they can continue to do this for so many others and (I’ll let you decide which is the most important reason!) because I have got to run 26.2 miles!!!!!

Let’s smash it for Hol! Every step, every breath.

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