Wheels turning for East Lancashire Hospice
Holly James from Wigan set herself a challenge of cycling the Isle of Man, including the famous TT course to raise money for the East Lancashire Hospice on Sunday 13th February 2022.
The idea came about after a family friend; Vinny began receiving palliative care from the hospice. Vinny, 50 from Blackburn was diagnosed a few years ago with bowel cancer, but unfortunately this did spread. Vinny had been receiving care by the hospice nurses out in the community and on the Inpatient Unit, but sadly lost his battle on Thursday 10th February 2022.
Holly has fond memories of going to the TT in the Isle of Man with Vinny and family and so thought this 115 miles challenge would be a great way to raise money.
After mapping out the route and training, Holly took on the gruelling challenge on Sunday 13th February in memory of Vinny. When asked why Holly chose to do this to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice, she responded, “I want to do this challenge to support the East Lancashire Hospice as this means so much to me. The charity is so committed to providing an outstanding level of care for every patient they look after and making those patients and their families life a little bit easier and better.”
She continued, “The staff at the hospice are so positive and I know in Vinny’s case that really resonated with him and uplifted him to keep going every day!”
Before Holly set off on her ride around the Isle of Man, she was asked how she will stay focus, “For many year’s I have been to the Isle of Man and to the TT with Vinny, those memories I will treasure for a lifetime and it is those memories that will keep me going throughout the day.”
Holly started fundraising for the hospice by setting up an online giving page for her challenge and has already raised over £2,500 to support other patients under hospice care in our community.
After completing the challenge, Holly said, “It was a hard route and the relentless rain and wind was
there to test us at every corner but it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I wish so much that Vinny was here to see the outcome but he certainly knew that he had a great set of friends around him. I really hope I have done him proud today, the ride brought back so many memories of the time we have spent with Vinny in the Isle of Man, it was hard at certain points but so good to think about all of the fun times we spent there with him.”
Holly finished by saying, “I was astounded by how supportive everyone had been so far and I am pleased to see that the East Lancashire hospice is receiving the recognition it truly deserves. Vinny was so grateful for everything the hospice had done for him and I am just glad that his friends and family have had the chance to give something back for all the support they have provided.”
Jackie Morris, Fundraising Assistant at the East Lancashire Hospice commented, “It is always so nice to hear the stories of why people want to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice and it makes what we do even more special. When we see the challenges supporters set themselves, like Holly’s, to raise money for the hospice, it really does make us feel so grateful, as every penny the community raise goes towards to vital funds needed to provide care for our patients and their families.”
If you would like to support Holly with her fundraising challenge you can make a donation via her Just Giving page - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/holly-james12 or call the East Lancashire Hospice Fundraising Team – 01254 287013.