I've chosen to run the Manchester Half Marathon 2026 and Liverpool Half Marathon 2027 to raise as much money as possible for the Moya Cole Hospice.

Tom was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer called pseudomyxoma peritonei in May 2024, which causes a build up of fluid in the abdomen. He had surgery that June at The Christie in Manchester but unfortunately the cancer had already progressed and encased a lot of his organs and couldn't be removed. Tom had chemotherapy but unfortunately this didn't have an impact.

For a long time he lived his life as normally as possible, working and looking after his two young children. Tom was determined not to let his illness impact his family any more than it had to. He never complained about the many hospital appointments, procedures, symptoms and side effects, despite often being in pain. His condition worsened rapidly at the end of 2025, but he continued to work and be a brilliant dad and husband for as long as he possibly could.

In February 2026 Toms family received the awful news that Tom was now at the end of life stage, and they made the difficult decision to move him to the Moya Cole Hospice. They were incredibly kind to Toms Family at this time. The day he was admitted to the hospice was Toms son's 3rd birthday, and the day after, Tom died aged 38. I'm grateful Tom could die somewhere comfortable and with his wife, Emily holding his hand.

The Moya Cole Hospice made Toms family feel welcome, getting Tom whatever food and drink he felt up to trying and making sure he was set up to watch the football. When the kids came to visit him they made the whole experience as nice as it could have possibly been - bringing them ice cream and being so kind in what turned out to be the last time they'd see him. The doctors and nurses were so gentle with their family when they knew he wouldn't be with them for much longer, and tried their best to make him as comfortable as possible.

When Tom died it was just himself and his wife, and his nurse Lynsey came to sit with his wife, reassuring Emily and making that moment much less scary and lonely than it could have been. The thought and care they put into everything, like giving them knitted hearts for memory boxes, will always stay with Emily. Emily, Toms wife has been having bereavement counselling at the hospice, and although it's hard, this is something Emily is incredibly grateful to have available and it’s the place where she was last connected to Tom.

As a charity, the hospice relies on donations to run. They need to raise £20,000 a day just to keep the doors open, and they provide so many services for patients and their loved ones. What they're doing for families in awful situations like theirs is so incredible, and every family deserves to have that if they're unlucky enough to need it.

If I can make any contribution to this Hospice and make even a small difference, I would be very proud to do this in Toms name for himself and his family.