When I made the entry below I did not know that my father would before too long be going into St Richards hospice himself. 

Today (Wednesday 23rd June) he passed away there peacefully and having been able to see all of his close family in calm and beautiful surroundings.

We are all enormously proud of him and grateful for the frankly amazing support that the hospice was able to give him and us in his last days.

Charlotte and I shall still be doing the walk on Friday and we appreciate all the more the huge support that friends have given to date. If anyone is concerned about the lighthearted tone of comments below they should not be. My father always went through life with a sense of humour only rivaled in scale by his generosity. He was a great supporter of St Richard's and would have been proud of the support that they were able to give him.

------------------------------------------------------

Here we go again.

Two years ago Charlotte and I went mad and decided to walk 31 miles across beautiful but very hilly Worcestershire countryside to raise money for St Richard's Hospice. I ended up barely able to stand let alone walk and even Charlotte was mildly tired.

Two years on and a fair amount has happened. We're engaged to be married and moving into a new flat any minute now, I've been elected to Parliament as the MP for Worcester.

However we've done exactly what everyone warned us we would do, forgotten how painful it was last time, remembered the good bits and signed up to do the Worcestershire Way Walk all over again.

My only preparation so far has been the miles that I walked on the campaign trail, but  I keep on intending to walk to work in Westminster and it might happen yet.

Now those who know me well will know that 31 miles is about 30.5 miles further than I tend to walk on the average day (except when canvassing of course). So some may question whether I will make it and why we're doing this.

Quite simply because it is for a fantastic cause.

The hospice movement provides care for people and makes life worth living at a time when the remaining time available to them is more precious than ever. It also provides care and counselling for their families after they are gone.

St Richards is an amazing place, built on time and on budget entirely with money raised from local people in Worcester and caring for hundreds in the area for whom the NHS cannot or will not provide terminal care.

When I first visited St Richards, I was expecting it to be a challenging, even depressing evening. What I saw was so uplifting and so positive that even if I had needed convincing of the great work of the hospice movement, I would have been absolutely convinced.

They need our money to keep on providing the amazing care that they do to people who need it.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: St Richard's Hospice Foundation gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor us now!