Hospice thanks amazing Brighton Marathon runners
Supporters from St Catherine’s Hospice were on hand to cheer on 23 amazing runners at the Brighton Marathon on Sunday (17 April.) As members of ‘Team STCH’ ran past, the charity’s cheering squad offered them sweets and provided encouragement with musical instruments and clappers.
Amongst the runners were four members of the Davie family from Crawley. Brothers Joe, (27) and Ben, (25) were joined by their cousin, Max, (23)and sister’s boyfriend, Steve, (31) to run the marathon in memory of their Granddad, Jack, who was cared for by the local hospice.
Their amazing efforts have been rewarded and the four have smashed their £2,000 fundraising target, with their current fundraising total standing at more than £3,000.
Ben said: “We were touched by the care our Granddad received from St Catherine’s while he was in his final weeks and we wanted to pay tribute to that. Granddad was a very caring and generous man and he built a strong family legacy. We all miss him but St Catherine’s was a real support to us through a really hard time. For us, it was the little things that St Catherine’s did that stood out, like making sure Granddad had a whisky before bed. This kind of care helped make the time he had left as comfortable as possible and along with the outstanding nursing care he received made the difficult time we went through as a family more bearable. It was a really special occasion for us to run the Brighton Marathon as a family, and taking part was our way of remembering Granddad and thanking St Catherine’s for what they did for him and our family.”
Lawrie Mallyon, Community Fundraiser at St Catherine’s, said: “It was really great to cheer on runners from Team STCH on Sunday. Each of them did us really proud. Each year we need to raise £6 million in voluntary income to provide our free, expert end of life care to patients and their family and friends so the efforts of the Davie family and all our other Brighton Marathon runners will make a real difference to those we care for.”
If you feel inspired to help support the hospice in future challenge events, please contact the Events Team on 01293 447364 or email: events@stch.org.uk
