Towards the end of last year my incredible Mum’s three year journey with with cancer came to an end and she passed away a few days before Christmas.

Whilst it was tough at times for us, it was nothing compared to what Mum went through. She never once complained or questioned it but faced it head on with a bravery I can only hope I possess half of when my time comes.

In our darkest days when ambulance call outs were frequent, days and nights were long, hours were spent waiting in A&E corridors, scan results were anxiously being waited for and we didn’t really know what was coming next, how we’d handle it or how we’d get through it St Michael’s Hospice stepped in and held our hands until the end.

One teary call on a Sunday afternoon and incredibly within three hours a SMH nurse was in our home, talking my brother and I through the likely final journey, how to navigate it, who to call on and what support was on hand from SMH and elsewhere.

To have that knowledge, professionalism, kindness, understanding and compassion available 24/7 FREE of charge is a hidden secret, until you have the sad need to call upon SMH (or any hospice) you’ll never have a reason to know the truly incredible services and skills they offer.

It’s a travesty that Hospices receive very limited national funding and rely almost entirely on the generosity of people’s donations. As one paramedic at home at a 3am call out to us said “hospices are an extension of the NHS and should be funded like so.”

So…….the world’s slowest runner (yep that’s still me!) is plodding the lanes once again training for SMH 10k in May, in the hope of raising as much as I can so that other families continue to benefit from the support and lifeline that SMH provided me and my family.

We are all asked for charitable donations almost daily, so if you decide this is one you’d like to support THANK YOU. The size of the donation doesn’t matter, collectively we can make a difference. And that’s what Mum did to me.

SMH multi-disciplinary team includes doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, complementary therapists, social workers, chaplains and counsellors. These specialist Hospice staff work together and often in partnership with the NHS to relieve patients’ symptoms, control their pain and help them to live well until the end of life. It is vital that everyone that needs it has the appropriate care and support they need to cope with the complex feelings and lifestyle changes caused by a terminal illness.