Hello, I'm running with #TeamStAnn's in the Manchester Marathon 2025.

I signed up for the Manchester Marathon 2025 on the back of knee surgery last year, I was struggling with the recovery both physically and mentally so I looked for a goal and set myself on a marathon, something I've always admired others for doing.

I had no intention of fundraising for anything until my Gran - Sylvia - ended up in St Ann's Hospice towards the end of the year. After the first time I visited, when I was leaving I noticed in reception they were doing various bits to raise funds and I learned that they rely heavily on third-party funding and donations.

St Ann's Hospice is a lifeline for many, but with only a third of their funding coming from the NHS, they need to raise £20,000 each day to continue providing their essential services and compassionate care.

In November, Gary Neville visited St Ann's as part of fundraising for their new hospice. He was fortunate enough to meet my Gran and she duly shared her own fundraising exploits! (see 10:20 here and the picture at the top of this page from that day she refers to)

St Ann's managed to help my Gran so that she was well enough to go home for a period of time but on Christmas Eve she had to go back and they looked after her until she passed on the 4th January.

To show my appreciation to St Ann's, I've decided that I'll be running for them and to help other families get their support.

Please support me by donating what you can and you can see the below to give you an idea of what your money will go towards.

- £200.00 could pay for a member of their community team to visit a patient in their home.

- £256.50 could pay for food for a month for one of their inpatients.

- £600.00 could pay for a member of their community team to visit a patient in their home three times a week.

- £694.44 could fund 50 minutes of their specialist care.

- £1,801.00 could pay for a day of care from their Patient and Family Support Team.

Running wise I'm still doing weekly physio but I ticked over 10 miles on Saturday, I'm aiming to complete a half marathon in the coming weeks and they'll be updates with how I'm getting on posted on here through Strava.

Cheers,

Liam