Quite a few years ago, Weldmar Hospicecare looked after my friend Ericka. Northerner, mum to my best friend, pottery critic (she laughed at my accidentally phallic Year 8 monkey teapot so hard she couldn’t breathe), and fierce defender of a good brew to solve most things.

More recently they looked after my Grandad. A full on legend, with whom I shared a love of chocolate brazils and those videos of when the King’s Guards horses lose their patience and bite tourists who don’t follow instructions. Both of them were the absolute best, and both of them would definitely think I’m nuts for impulsively deciding to walk across hot coals.

Weldmar’s services are the kind you hope you never need, but realise they are invaluable when you do. Whether they’re providing end of life care for a patient at the hospice or in a patient’s own home via the Specialist Hospice at Home service, supporting a child through the impending loss of a loved one, providing treatments to help with pain relief, or recommending equipment to make last days as comfortable as possible. Being able to provide it all for free is ultimately down to the generosity of people - and I feel so strongly that it should remain free until the end of time. That’s why I’m going to toast my tootsies on some white hot coals on a cold November evening in the hope of raising some pennies for this important local charity!

This is me we’re talking about, so I will of course be providing hilarious updates RE how my training is going, and I appreciate every donation with my whole entire heart. Thank you for reading, and going along with my daft ideas. 💙💚