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This year, my mum Diane was struggling more and more with her quality of life, incapacitated and unable to leave her flat.  Caring for her (shared between my brother and me, both in part time work) eventually got too much.

The options were hospital, or various carers coming in daily for a short time. Hospital is not a place for end of life care, it is a place where people go to get better or prolong life. Mum had no specific disease such as cancer.

With incredible determination from her, asking us to keep on trying, we found a place for her at Martlets Hospice in Hove, W. Sussex.

https://www.martlets.org.uk/about-us/ 

The moment my mum entered into the care of Martlets, we were all
so grateful and relieved. Their incredible care, support and facilities will
always be remembered. The compassion and consideration we were shown from the staff and volunteers was human nature at its very best.

Throughout UK, there are far too few hospices. Brighton and Hove alone has a population of almost 300,000, many of them terminally ill. But Martlets can only accommodate 18 beds. So many dying people and so few beds. They need to expand, but they rely on independent funding for 88% of their operating costs.

How we experience end of life care, has come to mean so much to me. Care which is geared for the purpose, with staff completely qualified and trained to ease this journey for the patients and their relatives, is crucial.

So I am raising funds to help overcome this desperate shortage, and also to help maintain the high standard of care and support practised by Martlets Hospice. One thing is certain, we are all going to die!

To raise awareness, 15 of us are training to walk through part of the Sahara Desert in April. I hope to raise £1,500.00 for Martlets by the end of January. Your contributions, big and small, will be so much appreciated by Martlets, and by the many who are dying.

Fitness training tips for walking in sand also very welcome!