Catherine's story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On April 26th 2026, I will be running London Marathon to raise money for an amazing charity - HCPT. Many of you will know what HCPT means to me, but for those that don't here is a little bit about HCPT and how I got involved (many moons ago!)

Since 1956, HCPT has offered life-changing week-long pilgrimage holidays to Lourdes, France, for disabled and disadvantaged people. Such holidays are with small groups of prepared volunteer helpers. There are a number of groups throughout the UK and are all set up and run by volunteers.

The cost of a pilgrimage is just over £1,000 per person, although this can vary slightly depending on the group and travel arrangements. This includes return travel, full board accommodation, insurance, medical support, and access to all HCPT events in Lourdes. At Easter, HCPT does not expect children to pay for their pilgrimage — each group fundraises to cover these costs, so that every child can travel regardless of their circumstances.

I went on my first HCPT trip at the age of 17, having watched my aunty, uncle and cousin take part for several years. From then on, I travelled with the Merseyside group 40 around 12 times. Each year I looked after a child with a variety of additional needs.

It's hard to explain how special Lourdes at Easter with HCPT is. Some children will never have travelled abroad, other children will never have travelled independently of their family. HCPT is so much more than a holiday for the children. So many of the children we took away came home with more confidence,having made new friends and memories which I know some of them still talk about to this day. Not only does HCPT provide a holiday for the children, it provides much needed respite for a lot of families and siblings - something which is hard to appreciate without experiencing the reality of looking after children with additional needs - but all I know is that those families deserve and need time out.

Although I haven't been able to travel with HCPT in recent years, it still holds a dear place in my heart and I really hope to travel again one day and show my own children what HCPT is all about!

If you are able to donate anything at all, I would really appreciate it. Running a marathon will be a HUGE challenge for me however, knowing I am raising money for such a worthy cause will, without a doubt, motivate me through some of those training runs!

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.