Our team is running the Royal Parks Half Marathon on the 8th October 2023 to raise money for St Clare Hospice, who so lovingly cared for Maddy Kelly at the end of her life. The team is made up of her 2 sons, David and Alex Kelly, together with close friends Harry Bailes, Nick Lewis, Oliver McDonald, Benny Routledge, Harry Beckwith, Ben Savidge and Nico Mavris.

Maddy lost her 8 year battle to cancer in May 2022 and in the last stage of her life, St Clare's provided exemplary, compassionate care and made her as comfortable as possible. The staff were extremely supportive and accommodating for family and visiting close friends, allowing us to create special memories together with Maddy during this tough period. Afterwards, St Clare's also provided bereavement support for the Kelly family. They created a friendly and considerate environment, which helped the family come to terms with the grieving process.

With limited NHS funding, St Clare's need to raise over 60% of their costs each year to provide our vital services; in 2021/2022 their costs were £5.1m and this is forecast to rise in the next year. They rely on donations from the local community to cover these costs and continue being there for local families facing one of the most difficult journeys in life. For me personally (David Kelly), I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude towards St Clare's and the staff working there and would love to help to raise some money so they can continue providing their service for other families.

We're a team of mixed running abilities ranging from not running at all, to running 3-4 times per week and we're looking forward to encouraging each other with training over the summer and in the weeks leading up to the event. We might even post a sweaty post-run picture every once in a while to prove it!

We're grateful for any donation you can give and sharing this in any way would be much appreciated. Let's get this flying!