News in brief
Good Morning Britain films live at Keech Hospice Care
Reaching milestones
London Marathon runners raise £26k
One of our corporate supporters celebrated a huge milestone recently. Brook Street UK Ltd in St Albans has been supporting Keech Hospice Care for 15 years and has raised £50,000. To mark the anniversary it gave us a £5,000 donation, a brand new PA system and pledged £3,000 towards a children’s activity. Erika Bannerman, Director, from Brook Street UK Ltd said: “When Brook Street was founded, 70 years ago, it was a family run business for many years. The importance placed on family, and the original commitment to working within our local communities is still incredibly prevalent in the organisation today. As a children’s charity, close to our St Albans Head Office, Keech Hospice Care is a natural choice for us. We’ve been proud to support the incredible work of the charity through cake bakes, a lottery ‘bonus ball’ syndicate and bring and buy sales. We truly hope every contribution can enable a patient or family to receive support, care, fun and friendship.”
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On 24 April, the streets of London were lined with supporters and charities cheering on almost 40,000 London Marathon runners. Eight runners took part for the hospice, raising an incredible £26,000. Father and son team, Colin Moore Senior and Colin Moore Junior from Luton both crossed the finishing line.“We wanted to say thank you after Keech Hospice Care gave my family the chance to spend precious time with our daughter Sofia after she died,” said Colin Junior. “Running the marathon was brilliant and emotional. I was determined to finish in honour of Sofia, no matter how painful it got.” More than 250,000 people have registered for a ballot place in the 2017 London Marathon with only around 40,000 spots available. So, why not apply for one of Keech’s charity places and raise some money for your hospice at the same time? Or, if you already have your own ballot place, we’d love it if you’d consider running for us. Check out www.keech.org.uk or call us on 01582 707940.
It was an early but exciting start for everyone when ITV’s Good Morning Britain surprised one of our dads for Father’s Day in June here at Keech Hospice Care. Martin Rackley was given a Best Dad Award by the show’s entertainment presenter, Richard Arnold, who headed the live TV show from our children’s hospice. Martin gave up everything to care for his daughter Ruby, who has an incurable brain tumour, and to also enable his partner Emma to fulfil her dream of becoming a midwife. The Super Dad was left stunned after finding himself the centre of attention on national breakfast television and his friends, family and many Keech Hospice Care staff lying in wait and ready to surprise him in our Teenage Room at 6am. Martin, who’s always wanted to drive a racing car, was presented with a day’s Ferrari driving at Silverstone, Grand Prix tickets; and a stay for all the family at Center Parcs.
Keech 10K Trail Run Keech Hospice Care’s 10K Trail Run took place on Sunday 15 May at Putteridge Bury and was a massive success with more than 200 runners signing up to our first ever competitive running event. Robert Barnes and Elizabeth Rollinson, both from Stopsley Striders running club, finished as first man and woman with great times of 38.38 and 48.28 respectively. With the help of our running club partners (Dunstable Road Runners), the great weather, the beautiful grounds and amazing volunteers, the event was a massive hit raising an incredible £9,700 to date. Putteridge Bury has agreed to host us again next year and the confirmed date for the 2017 10K Trail Run is 14 May, so please put the date in your diary. www.keech.org.uk