As most of you know, Justine passed away on Sunday 10th December 2017 after suffering a massive stroke. She is survived by our two beautiful daughters, Thea & Elsa and me.

When Justine passed away, our world was turned up side down and so many lovely people gave Justine’s family, our girls and me the strength and resolve to get through the early stages of shock, grief and sadness.

As Justine’s funeral and Christmas approached, each day became tougher but we took solace and hope from the messages posted by close friends, relatives, current and former colleagues, customers through my role at Unilever and of course the heartfelt anonymous
notes that really touched our hearts. We were also overwhelmed by the generous donations made reaching in excess of £6,500 in Justine’s memory.

This year has been very tough but the girls and I have been getting stronger and we are now adjusting to life without Justine.

We have been overwhelmed by the strong support from so many people and I now want to further contribute to The Stroke Association to help stroke survivors following the great result we all achieved at the start of the year.

My close friends, Norrie Barbour, Graham Mitchell, Rob Evans, David & Kimberley Morgan, Mark Brand and Murdie Rodgers and I will be running together as 'Team Justine' at the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon on Sunday 30th September. These special people and a few others have not only helped me get fit for my first half marathon but have supported me through some really tough times since December.

Please help us by donating, writing words of encouragement and sharing this page with as many people as you can to help us increase the total donated as much as possible.

Also, if you can manage, we would love to see you there on the day cheering us on and encouraging us to get over the finishing line at Glasgow Green.

Big Thanks From Thea, Elsa, Justine's Parents & Family plus 'Team Justine' xx

How can our donations help?

• £50 could help The Stroke Association continue to invest in vital research to help save lives and improve the lives of stroke survivors.

• £168 buys a month’s supply of a drug tested for use in reducing brain damage after stroke.

• £100 buys a pulse monitor used in cardiovascular rehabilitation programme for stroke patients.

• £155 allows the Stroke Association to provide a stroke survivor or their carer with a grant for food, electricity, or an appliance they desperately need following a stroke.

• £52 buys the safe transportation of ten participant’s blood samples in a study looking at genetic causes of stroke.

• £10 helps to train a volunteer to take blood pressures

• £50 helps train a volunteer to provide first aid cover at stroke support groups

• £10 answers a call for help to the Stroke Helpline

• £25 could help us to develop our communication support, enabling stroke survivors to regain their confidence.

Stroke is one of the biggest health challenges of our time. It is the third largest cause of death in the UK, killing twice as many women as breast cancer and twice as many men as prostate and testicular cancer combined.

There are around 1.4 million stroke survivors in the UK.

Over half have a disability and one third rely on others for help.

25% of strokes happen to those under the age of 65