In October 2024, my Grandad passed away, and the world has felt a little quieter ever since.

He was one of the strongest, funniest, most loving men I’ve ever known. He was the kind of person who could light up a room with a joke, even when life gave him every reason not to smile. But in October 2022, he faced something no one should ever have to: he lost both of his legs.

It changed everything. His world got smaller, his pain got bigger, and watching someone you love go through that is something you never forget.

But in those final years, when things were so heavy for our family, Shipston Home Nursing stepped in like angels. They weren’t just nurses they were listeners, comforters, and kind souls who brought peace into our home when everything else felt broken. They treated Grandad with such dignity, compassion, and warmth. They saw the man he was, not just the illness, and they gave him the comfort and care he so deeply deserved.

That’s why I’m running the London Marathon- to raise money for the people who helped Grandad.

This isn’t just about completing 26.2 miles. It’s about saying thank you. It’s about honouring my Grandad’s memory in a way that keeps helping others, just like he was helped. It’s about making sure other families in our community get to feel the same care, the same kindness, and the same quiet strength that Shipston Home Nursing gave to ours.

If you knew my Grandad, you’d know how much he’d be laughing at the idea of me running a marathon - but I know he’d be proud too, and I want to make him proud.

Please, if you can, donate. Every penny goes directly to Shipston Home Nursing so they can continue the work that made such a difference to us, and to so many others.

Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting, and thank you for helping me keep my Grandad’s memory alive in the most meaningful way I can.

With all my heart,

I love you Grandad,

Your Loula xxx

More information about Shipston Home Nursing: We are a local Charity founded in 1997 with the purpose of caring for patients with illnesses which do not respond to curative treatment and who wish to be nursed at home. Our Nursing Services are managed through a team of Registered General Nurses specialising in palliative care supported by Health Care Assistants. We care for the patient and their family, in their own homes throughout the period of their illness.