This year I will be taking part in the Bupa Great North Run 2014 in Newcastle. It is a half marathon (13.1 miles) and is expected to involve on excess of 56,000 participants.

Why?

My Uncle Paul sadly passed away last December having spent over 20 years fighting a brain tumour, leaving behind his wife Jane and two daughters Sarah and Hannah. His deterioration was gradual over the years, still the last few weeks of his life saw a cruel and rapid decline in his health.

During these last few weeks, Paul was taken into the care of St Raphael's Hospice who are a charity offering high-quality medical and nursing care for people with cancer and other serious illnesses. The genuine kindness and compassion expressed by the nurses at St Raphael’s made an immeasurable difference to Jane, Sarah and Hannah, and to the rest of the family. Not only did they ensure Paul was as pain free as possible, but also gave all of our family comfort in knowing he was being looked after by professionals who constantly went the extra mile to show compassion for their patients and their families.

By taking part in the Great North Run, I hope to raise money for St Raphael’s Hospice. They rely heavily on charity fundraising and donations to continue providing a high quality of care, the likes of which simply aren’t seen in the NHS. It costs nearly £80,000 a week to keep the hospice running, and I’m hoping to raise a minimum of £500 as a contribution to this quite wonderful service.

Over the next few weeks I'll be putting myself through the paces to ensure I'm in the best condition for the event, however this is barely a fraction of the fight my Uncle put in over the last 20 years. I hope that this will act as a fitting tribute to a great man, whilst raising money for a very worthy and important cause.

What can I do?

As a family we are looking to raise £10,000 over the next two years for St Raphael’s Hospice, and I'm hoping that by taking part in this event and reaching (and hopefully exceeding) my personal target it's one more step towards us hitting that mark.

Even if it’s just £1, I want as many people as possible to donate and help me reach this goal.Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.