Why am I putting myself through this? That is a question I've asked myself so many times - and just before I think about bottling out, I hear the voice of the person that I'm doing this for, saying "Get on with it. You know you'll enjoy it and just remember the wonderful support we got from the incredible people at St Rocco's!"

My life was great. Alan and I had married quite young and the girls were off to university so 'empty nest syndrome' hit us. After being a family for so long, we were also going to be a couple again. We wanted to do something together. Let's learn to dance! My Dad enjoyed dancing and always wanted me to take up ballroom, but as a kid I couldn't be persuaded. Anyone that knew Alan will know how competitive he was, so this was a challenge and he wanted to be as good as he possibly could be. We both fell in love with dancing. Alan would have loved for us to compete, but I saw many beginner couples bicker whilst they were learning so my priority was fun and the social life - which was great. We compromised. We didn't compete or do medals, however, I agreed that I'd put in the practise with him to try and be competent social dancers. 

We were planning for the future and downsized and moved to Warrington. Alan never gained weight, enjoyed golf and cycling and appeared to be fit and healthy. One day everything changed when the doctor said he had terminal cancer with probably a few weeks to live. How could life be so cruel? They must have it wrong? It can't be true - he wasn't 'ill'.

Typical Alan. He promised me he would still be around for our 30th wedding anniversary which was months away and he set about planning and organising to ensure myself and the girls were looked after. He told me which of his friends to go to for specific help and anything else he said - just ask Pete.

Life became something extremely precious and every second had to be lived to the full. This extremely brave and selfless man amazed me every day. He lived for nearly a year following the diagnosis, partly due to bloody mindedness, but mainly to the support and therapies received at St Rocco's to ensure that every day he lived, he had dignity and quality of life.

True to his word, we danced at our 30th Wedding Anniversary Party surrounded by family and friends.

I'll be honest I was sceptical at first about some of the support Alan found so beneficial. I mistakenly thought a hospice was somewhere to go to die and I just wanted a miracle to happen and someone to say it was all a mistake. Eventually, I saw with my own eyes just how much those very special people at St Rocco's make the time someone has left - the best it possibly can be. That is the priority when someone is living with a death sentence - their remaining
quality of life!!

I now have Pete beside me cheering me on and Alan in my head urging me to do my best. How on earth could I even consider bottling it?

Now over to you. Those of you that know me will understand how difficult it was to share this however I wanted all my friends and family to understand why supporting this event is so important to me and all the other families that get support for these 'heroes' that do this work. The NHS funding only covers 20% of the cost of the nurses! I genuinely am amazed that the staff and volunteers can give so much of themselves to help ease the nightmare that others are going through. As I said before – heroes!

Please dig deep and let's blast through that minimum target. I'll keep you updated on my progress and remember if you are a UK tax payer, make sure to tick the gift aid box as the Government adds 25% to your donation at no additional cost to you. If you fancy an evening of sparkle, then it is on December 10^th 2023 at Nunsmere Hall Hotel. Your votes will be greatly appreciated and very much needed! I’ll post details as soon as possible. Also, any bright ideas how we can raise as much as possible? Don’t keep quiet – let me know – all ideas gratefully received! Spread the word and ‘keeeeeep dancing’