Family of four running Brighton Marathon for Crawley hospice

Four members of the Davie family Joe Max, Ben, and Steve are taking on the Brighton Marathon in aid of St Catherine's Hospice on Sunday 17 April in memory of their grandad, Jack - picture submitted

On Sunday 17 April, the Crawley family, Joe, 27, Max, 23, Ben, 25 and Steve, 31, ran in memory of their Grandad, Jack, who was cared for by the hospice.

For some of the family, this won’t have been the first marathon they’ve completed. Brighton will be Joe’s second marathon and Ben’s third. For Max and Steve, Brighton marked their debut marathon.

Ben said, “We were touched by the care our Grandad received from St Catherine’s while he was in his final weeks and we wanted to pay tribute to that. We [were] hoping to raise £2,000 and we’re already over half way there.

Each year St Catherine’s needs to raise £6 million in voluntary income to provide free, specialised end of life care to patients and their family and friends.

The hospice has been providing care for those living in Sussex and West Surrey for over 30 years.

The care provided is tailored to each individual depending on what kind of care they require, with the belief that each individual is more than just their illness.

The hospice only recieves £2.5 million a year from the NHS, so the efforts of the Davie family, will make a real difference to current patients and their families.

Ben adds, “Our Granddad was a very caring and generous man and he built a strong family legacy.

“We all miss him, but St Catherine’s were 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.

“Taking part in the Brighton Marathon is our way of remembering Granddad and thanking St Catherine’s for what they did for him and our family.”

If you would like to find out more about taking on a challenge for St Catherine’s, please visit: www.stch.org.uk or call Hannah Cooke in the Events Team on 01293 447355.