On 30th May 2026, the first anniversary of dad’s death, I will be running a marathon around the Forest of Dean in his memory.

Dad died from stage 4 prostate cancer. During his illness, Sue Ryder Leckhampton Hospice supported him on 3 separate occasions for complex pain management and mental health support. The care he received there was nothing short of amazing.

The team provided truly individualised care. They managed his pain with compassion and expertise, supported his emotional wellbeing, and treated him with dignity, humour and humanity; exactly how he needed to be treated.

The staff were incredible. Warm, kind, and patient - not just with Dad, but with all of us. The hospice itself is beautiful. We spent many moments walking around the grounds, taking in the views, finding calm in the middle of something unimaginably hard.

Those memories now mean everything to our family.

I’m running this marathon in memory of my dad - our “grumpy old Gruffalo” - to give something back to the hospice that gave us so much.

The last marathon I ran was in 2021 and it took me just over 7 hours. This one will be harder, emotionally and physically - but there’s no better place to run than the Forest of Dean, which was a huge part of who he was.

I know he’ll be with me every step of the way - spurring me on, taking the piss - but underneath it all, proud.

If you can donate, share, or support in any way, it would mean the world.