When my wife Zoe was nearing the end of her life having had a life limiting brain tumour for over two years, she wanted to be in the Sue Ryder Hospice. Throughout her illness she had regularly supported them as a charity through their shops.

Zoe was one of the lucky ones, she got a bed in the hospice and spent 14 days there with exceptional care from the wonderful and compassionate staff. Their dedication, professionalism and gold standard palliative care made a difficult time for our family all that bit easier. This allowed me to be a husband and a father for the final weeks of Zoe's life, rather than a carer. We even had a birthday party in her room for our three year old.

The end of Zoe's life was filled with treasured memories, family and friends, kindness and love. But sadly, 1 in 4 families are not able to access the end of life care they need, which means this time can be filled with uncertainty, pain and struggle instead.

Sadly Sue Ryder Hospices and Palliative Care Hubs currently only receive around one-third of the money required to run our end-of-life care services from the Government, meaning they have to fill the shortfall through charitable donations.

I will be running the Cheltenham 10k in memory of Zoe and am hoping to raise some money for Sue Ryder too!