My effervescent , and beautiful friend Issy Clout died young of cancer in September this year and the wonderful care she received at St Raphael's Hospice was a great comfort to her and all her family and friends.

Like all hospices, Saint Raph's help people in the last stages of their life to pass with as little pain and as much dignity as possible. The care they provide is really important and humbling so when Issy told me they'd had their funding cut I decided I should support them to say thank for the compassion they showed her so they can continue to offer others the same comfort, at a very sad and emotional time.

This is why I am going to run my very first London Marathon-no mean feat at 37 having never run more then 10km-to raise more than 2k that will be ploughed back into their amazing service.