Thank you very much for visiting the Just Giving page of Paddy, Paula, Sheila, David and Michael to support our attempt at running the Dublin Marathon 2018. Why are we running 26 miles each you may ask? It's not just for fun! We are running to raise money for the Northern Ireland Hospice.

The Northern Ireland Hospice is an amazing facility which provides palliative care to people suffering from terminal illness and provides unlimited support for their families and loved ones. Sadly we have all known and been close to people who have been affected by terminal illness and been caused to make use of the wonderful services provided by the Hospice. With this in mind we want to raise as much money as possible to support the Hospice.

A message from Michael:

My mother Moira Burke was a resident in the Hospice for a short period in January 2018 before her tragic passing due to pancreatic cancer a few weeks later. The Hospice provided an incredible service to my mother in her final days making her as comfortable as possible, but also for our family members and visitors who became temporary lodgers there themselves! From the moment my mother arrived at the Hospice and long since her passing, the Hospice provided a fantastic level of care to both her and her loved ones. It is a world class facility with world class staff. My family and I cannot thank or praise the staff members and volunteers enough for all that they did.

A message from Sheila:

My dad, Gerry Vernon, suffered from lung cancer and died after a painful battle with his illness in 1983. The Hospice was only coming into existence at this time. While dad was ill and towards the end of his life we as a family cared for him at home. This was a challenging time for both dad and our family as he was very ill and in a lot of pain. When I reflect now on the care and support which the Hospice has provided to a number of friends and family members I think about how much this type of care would have helped dad and our family during his illness. As such I am running to raise money so that the Hospice can continue to provide care and support to many families in Northern Ireland.

A message from the Team:

We also remember all of those close to us, our friends and family who have availed of the care provided by the Hospice. We know they are all truly grateful for the care they received.

It's because of these memories and the outstanding job done by the Hospice and its staff that we have decided to do our bit to help the facility. The Hospice requires funding of approximately £14 million per year to keep running, with more than 50% of that coming from donations. The daily cost of running the hospice is £40,000. With this in mind, we've set ourselves a fundraising target of £5,000.00. To put it in real terms, this will keep the hospice running for 1/8 of a day.

We know it's a high financial target - but we are being ambitious and want to encourage you all to dig deep.

Running a collective total of 131 miles, and staying off the pints and gin and tonic for the month of October (well sort of!), our target is to raise £38 per mile. Hopefully we will reach our target and pass on the donations to a facility which provides a service that you cannot put a price on. Plus - who else doesn't want to see Michael's face at the end of it?

Thank you all so much for your donations no matter the size. You have done a great thing by helping this amazing place and people continue to do their work.

Paddy, Paula, Sheila, David and Michael