I’ve worked for the NHS for 38 years. During that time I have had the privilege to visit and work with a number of hospices across the North West of England and work as both a clinician and a manager with hospice and palliative care services.. The abiding impact on me has been the deep care and compassion that is part of the “DNA” of the Hospice movement exhibited by every member of staff. Family and friends have benefitted from this care

My fantastic local hospice, Hospice of the Good Shepherd provides its services free of charge to its patients and costs over £5.2million to run each year with just 17% of the funding received coming from statutory sources. The remaining 83% is raised from a range of fundraising activities and the support of the generous local community in Cheshire. In addition, they raise money through their local charity shops and weekly lottery.

As part of their Great North Run team I am hoping to raise as much as possible to support their amazing work for Chester and Cheshire people.