I am retiring from Leckhampton surgery in Cheltenham and wanted to mark this occasion with a fundraising event. On May 28th 2022 I will do a tandem skydive at Netheravon airbase. I have never done this before!

I am keen to support our local Sue Ryder hospice and in particular the hospice at home team who have supported so many of my patients enabling them to stay at home at the end of their lives.

Did you know? Hospices are a vital part of our healthcare system. Despite this, the Government provides only a third of the funding hospices need to function.

£21 could pay for one hour of expert palliative care from Sue Ryder. £45 could provide one complementary therapy session such as massage, aromatherapy and reiki. These help improve feelings of well-being and alleviate symptoms such as anxiety, breathlessness, pain and nausea. £60 could provide one session of bereavement counselling. £150 could provide a hospice at home nurse a mobile working bag to carry essential supplies. £500 could pay for a bed for a day at the Sue Ryder Leckhampton court hospice. Some people benefit from a short stay to get on top of severe symptoms to be able to return home to their families. Some people need the expert care at the Hospice in the last days of their lives.

I also want to raise awareness of Myeloma which is a form of cancer of the bone marrow. My dear sister died of this in 2016. Myeloma UK is the only charity exclusively supporting this devastating illness. This is taken from their website;

What we do with your donations. We don’t receive any government funding. Instead, we rely on voluntary donations and fundraising activities to support our work. Funds given to Myeloma UK are efficiently and effectively invested in: Supporting patients and their families through their myeloma diagnosis Funding world-leading genetics research to develop and discover new tailored treatments Supporting innovative Clinical Trials that provide patients access to promising new treatments Providing resources and tailored information for doctors, nurses and other clinicians to ensure patients receive the best treatment and care Working in partnership with decision-makers to ensure the speedy approval of effective new treatments and the delivery of innovative policy solutions to benefit the myeloma community.

My sister supported Myeloma UK by getting us all to raise money for them at the Race for Life in 2016! We her family have continued to raise money for them in various ways since then. Please join us.

Please donate if you can. One link is for Sue Ryder, the other is for Myeloma so please make sure that you click on the one that you would most like to support.

Wish me luck!!