So my London marathon story starts in 1998, when as a teenager I lost my beloved Nan to cancer. Whilst her journey from diagnosis to death was just a few short months, watching her pass away at a local hospice was not a frightening experience. Devastating yes, especially given the speed at which she deteriorated, but, as my first experience with losing a loved one, it was not frightening. I'm not sure at that time I comprehended what it meant to my mum and her siblings to have the comfort of hospice care, and I didn't really grasp that until nearly 20 years later.

Less than a few short weeks after my nan died, my grandad also passed away. Having promised to get the family through the immediate aftermath of losing nan, and having been married for 67 years, he couldn't be without her.

These significant events in my teens didn't just influence my decision to work in hospice care but influenced my entire career. My grandparents were a huge part of my upbringing and had significant influence on the person I have grown up to be. They were charitable beings...woven in to their DNA, always putting people before themselves, giving even though they themselves had very little. As a kid I was dragged around endless charity shops - not just because my nan loved a bargain but because she knew it was a way of giving back that was affordable to her. My colleagues in our retail team know my love of a good mooch in our shops....well it's genetic!

This influence had a dramatic effect on my career choices. I knew as a teenager I wanted to work in the charity sector - it was in my genes - so in 2005 when I had the opportunity to join a well known national charity as a regional fundraiser I jumped at the chance...and so began my career in the third sector. A career choice I absolutely blame on my grandparents ;)

Fast forward nearly 10 years and following a number of roles at different charities I was coming to the end of a stint at my very first hospice (a children's hospice) and on the cusp of a role within an NHS charity. This was the year that my wonderful aunt (substitute nan, bridesmaid, confidante and my all-round biggest cheerleader and critic) was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Without going in to too much detail our end of life journey as a family was nowhere near the outstanding care we strive for every day here at St Giles. We have lived first-hand how hard it is to look after a loved one at home with a significantly complex diagnosis without the level of care and support you need. It's hard, too hard, and leaves lasting memories and trauma that should not be acceptable. We suddenly realised that the care given to my nan 20 years earlier was priceless.

So when in 2017 (the year my beautiful aunt died) and a role as Director of Fundraising came up at St Giles Hospice, I eagerly applied. I knew I was being guided, I knew I wanted go back to the hospice sector to help, even a tiny bit, to ensure no family lived through what I had.

Somewhere in the midst of all that I started running. Couch to 5k to begin with, honestly it wasn't a desire to run or even keep fit that drove it, it was a desire to have half an hour to myself after having my second child and being a full time working mom - but don't tell the kids that ;)

I have always been inspired by watching the London marathon, I've entered the ballot every year since 2006 when I first went to London to support our charitable runners on marathon day. It's iconic, who wouldn't want to do it? Well me it turns out, as when I got a place through the ballot last year, my first emotion wasn't excitement or joy, it was fear. Pure fear. How on earth, during the hardest year St Giles has lived through, whilst stepping in to interim CEO was I meant to find time to train? But there was no way I was letting that place go. I would run it for St Giles.

I will run (walk, hobble or shuffle...!) that marathon for my nan, for my aunt, for my family and for every family who has been touched by hospice care. The hospice sector is incredible and I'm grateful to it not only for providing me with the best job in the world (there’s never a dull moment!), but for the support it has given us, and many other families, over the years. I’m running to raise funds to help ensure that no other family has the bad experience of end of life care that we did, and to contribute in a small way to ensuring St Giles is still here in another 40 years, supporting those that need us the most.

St Giles is an amazing place and what fascinates me the most is that every one has a story that brings them here, this is mine! I truly believe that working in a hospice is a vocation and I'm so proud to be part of the team at St Giles and proud to be running with the St Giles name on my running vest. I hope I do the organisation proud.

Thank you St Giles for giving me a reason to overcome the fear.....London Marathon 2025 here I come.

Please, if you can give a little to support me on this journey and more importantly support St Giles and its future I will be eternally grateful and it will genuinely help me get through every mile🙏