Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

This year's charity I have chosen Teesside Hospice.

I will be skydiving from 10,000ft at Durham Airfield on 28th April 2024.

Why have I chose Teesside Hospice...read below for what they have done for me....

After being diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2020 and dealing with not only battling cancer but the appearance of covid-19 and still trying to raise, with my husband, our beautiful baby boy who at the time was only 14 months old. Eventually after finishing active treatment everything began to sink in and I found it hard to digest what had actually gone on.

Whilst trying to recover and move passed my diagnosis and start my journey with my drug therapy treatment to keep the cancer from returning, I kept being dealt bad cards and over the next 18 month had to deal with 3 more surgeries, infections, lymphadema, a broken foot and learning to adapt to my new limitations and come to terms that I'm not, nor ever will be again the Kate I was before.

I found this really hard and my mental health deteriorated. Even after trying different pathways to help and support I still found everything incredibly tough.

When attending my lymphadema appointment at the Teesside Hospice, I broke down like never before and I didn't know what to do, who to talk to as I've always protected my loved ones and friends, it was my duty to show everyone I was ok...A nurse at the hospice took me into a room, made me a cup of tea and sat with me for 4 hours...yes 4 hours!! She stopped all of her plans for that day and listened whilst I told her all about my journey. She explained that she was going to try and help me and informed me there was a course that may be helpful, first time they've ran it which they group people who have had cancer or living with cancer and feel in similar ways. This course was provided by the Hope group. By the time I left the hospice she had organised me to attend this group to support me, arranged for complimentary therapies and reflexology, arranged my lymphadema treatments and provided other opportunities to attend to go and be at the hospice to craft and talk and be with people of similar backgrounds. She offered me an escape and a little bit of hope that everything was going to be OK.

7 weeks I attended my hope course and attended complimentary therapies, everyweek without fail, here I met 'my ladies' Dawn, Jan, Sue and Trish. All battled or still battling cancer. To come every week and feel like 'home', realise that I wasn't alone and they also felt how I was feeling and just for these ladies to reallly really understand what I had been through and still going through..I think I found my safe place to break everything down and to put me together bit by bit to become a stronger version of myself all because of the hospice and of course my ladies.

After the course had finished me and my ladies and even to this day we still meet regularly. We have been on so many adventures and had so many giggles and laughs.

Sadly, in November 2023 we lost our lovely Dawn. What an amazing lady she was, honoured to meet her, to listen to her stories especially about her family and her dizziness (which I would say matched my own haha). I miss her terribly, we all do. Teesside hospice helped her and her family for when she decided she would finally rest and be at peace.

Teesside hospice do amazing things, it's not only for the obvious where people go to be comfortable before they leave us...they offer so many services and at the cost of nothing. I owe alot to the hospice, today I am a completely different person to when I first went there and they offered me the help. If raising funds could help or contribute to help someone else what they have done for me...then I feel I could jump out of a plane 1000 times to help support them.