After 5 consecutive years of applying unsuccessfully for a place in the London Marathon, I have been called up from Trinity Hospice's reserve list to run on their behalf.  This year, the London 2012 marathon takes place on Sunday, 22 April 2012, which gives me two months to get fit for the 26.2miles (or 42.2 km) and reach my target of completing it in less than 4 hours – I will do my very best to achieve this!

 

Trinity Hospice is very large hospice, close to where I work and situated in Clapham Common.  It provides invaluable, skilled and compassionate end of life care to those that require it, as well as much needed support for their families.  Each year, the hospice cares for approximately 2,000 people who live in central and south west London, aided by over 500 volunteers.

 

Having seen firsthand the incredible work carried out at the hospice I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help them. What is so sad is that an increasing number of patients that go to Trinity are aged between 20 and 40 years old, so providing care and bereavement services is invaluable when such young families are involved.  The Hospice is also only partially funded by the NHS and needs to raise a staggering £5,000,000 a year in order to support the most basic of its operational duties – this is all generated from donations and support from members of the community, much like what I am doing. 

 

I am aiming to raise a minimum of £2,000 for Trinity Hospice and I would love to exceed this figure, if at all possible.  My aim is to raise enough money in order to help fund one of Trinity’s community nurses who provide invaluable end-of-life care for two weeks at patients’ homes (in familiar surroundings), enabling family and friends to be close by – this is so often the wish of the majority of Trinity’s patients.  Any further funds that I manage to raise, over and above my target, I would like to be put towards the cost of providing effective and continuous pain relief to those that require it. 

 

Any contribution towards my target would be enormously appreciated as every pound raised will help the Hospice and those that so need care at such a tough time in their lives. This hospice goes above and beyond when it comes to care and I hope that I really can, with your support, help them continue to do so. 

 

Any motivational tips are also very welcome as well as CDs of music to keep me entertained whilst out training too!

 

I really do appreciate everyone’s support to date, so THANK YOU!