Running to say thank you

11:36am Sunday 16th March 2008

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"THEY never shut the door on you."

Nikki Chester cannot speak more highly of St Rocco's Hospice.

“Chezy was in full time but they were a very good help for me. They would come and check if I wanted anything to eat or if the children need looking after. There were times when you felt like saying ‘it’s too hard’ but they just support you all the way. They were exceptional.”

Nikki Chester

And she is fully behind the Warrington Guardian's campaign to raise money for the hospice after seeing first hand the work that they do for patients and their families.

For Nikki's husband Stephen, known to his friends as Chezy, was treated there.

She spent time at the hospice after Stephen was diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 33. He spent more than four weeks as a patient at St Rocco's before his death on Valentine's Day 2004.

She said: "Chezy was in full time but they were a very good help for me. They would come and check if I wanted anything to eat or if the children need looking after. There were times when you felt like saying it's too hard' but they just support you all the way. They were exceptional."

Even after Chezy's death the family still feel they can rely on the hospice - Nikki was even offered counselling two years after her husband's death and nurses at the hospice still talk about him and keep his memory alive.

"I want people to know that you don't forget what they do for you, even years later. I know I can ring them up and they are really helpful with anything," she concluded.

This year the Lockton Lane hospice is aiming to raise as much money as possible to help pay for a new day unit that will offer a wider range of services for patients in the town.

And Nikki, of Normandy Close, proved just how much the hospice means to her when she took part in the Liverpool Half Marathon to raise case for St Rocco's.

She and Paul Allen, her partner, took part in the gruelling run on March 3 and have raised more than £1,000.

Nikki, aged 37, said: "It was horrendous, it was quite hilly but it was a challenge. It was quite emotional because you see everybody with their charity T-shirts. Paul was the one who suggested we do the run. He knows how important it was for me so he suggested it. He did not have to do this, he's been really good in supporting me."

The couple would like to thank everybody who has donated money towards their sponsored run.