Hi everyone!

This is me with my beautiful son and Richard, my Granda.

My Granda was my best friend and my rock who sadly passed away in September 2020.

Although I have many cherished happy memories my Granda didn’t always live the life that mattered to him the most.

In a short amount of time he went from living independently, to several hospital stays, suffered from long term health conditions, moved into sheltered accommodation with a care package, more hospital visits, another move to a consultant led care home (where he suffered neglect) then finally to a different care home where he would live his final years.

During this time I cared for, supported and stood by his side just as he would always do for me.

My Granda lost control of his own life because he lost his voice. Care workers and health professionals would talk to me and not him. Decisions were made for him and not with him. This inevitably contributed to the deterioration of my Granda’s health.

I now have a deep passion to forge the way for people to have an equal voice in the things that matter to them most. For organisations to have co-production at the heart of everything they do and for people to continuously be brave and curious to work together to achieve the best outcomes for people.

To increase awareness I have decided to raise funds for the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) by running the Great North Run 2024.

SCIE's vision is for a society where care and support maximises people's choices, removes social inequality, and enables people to live fulfilling, safe and healthy lives.

Its mission is to research, evidence, share and support the implementation of best practice. We use this evidence and experience to shape policy and outcomes, and to raise awareness of the importance of social care and social work for creating a fair and equal society. Everything we do is informed by people with experience of care and support.

Another passion of mine is running! I would love it if you could join me, run with me during training sessions, join the crowd and cheer, sponsor me, follow my story, and help me share what SCIE is and its amazing work!

Much love

Lisa.