£1,000 has been raised for St Elizabeth Hospice by Andrew and Stephen Brooks, family and friends, after they completed the 23 mile Glasgow Kiltwalk 2023 in memory of his Dad, Clive Brooks.
Taking place in April, the ‘Mighty Stride’ saw Andrew and his brother Stephen, Stephen’s partner Joanne; Aaron (Clive’s Grandson) and Scott, a close friend complete the challenge in memory of Andrew’s Dad, Reverend Clive Brooks who received support from the hospice’s Community Team before his death at his East Bergholt home, aged 86-years-old, on 21 December 2022.
“Stephen and Joanne live in Glasgow and did the shorter, 14 mile, Kiltwalk in 2022 for a local charity, so to do the Mighty Stride for St Elizabeth Hospice, in tribute to Dad, was the obvious next step,” said Andrew.
“Our aim was to finish, we had no time target in mind, what was important was to honour Dad’s memory and raise as much money as possible for the hospice. It was a fantastic community event and we were delighted to complete the challenge in just 6 hours 15 minutes!
“Crossing the finishing to the cheers from the crowd was an amazing and highly emotional experience for us all. Up until that point the focus had been to finish, now the full meaning of all the training and the walk itself came home.
“Elation of finishing, then the emotion of feeling the loss of our Dad and the real pride in carrying the St Elizabeth Hospice logo on our t-shirts, it felt a brilliant way to give back to the hospice and show our gratitude for the amazing, compassionate care they gave our family.
“We must also send a massive heartfelt thank you to all those who supported us be it by donation or support and encouragement, without all those people, it would not have been possible to have raised the £1,000.”
Annually, St Elizabeth Hospice cares for more than 3,000 patients and their families throughout East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney.
This care sees the independent Suffolk charity providing free services – whenever and wherever it is needed, whether at home, in the community or at the hospice – to those living with a progressive or life-limiting illness.
Community Fundraising Assistant at St Elizabeth Hospice, Kelly Nekrews, said: “A big thank you to Andrew and his family for completing this fantastic challenge and for raising such a brilliant amount for the hospice.
“Every penny really will make a difference as we continue to develop our services to support more patients and their families throughout East Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, during difficult times in their lives.”
Read Andrew and Clive Brooks’ hospice story in full here www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/stories/andrew-and-clive-brooks-hospice-story.