A bit more about the charity

So not all of you will know but I've started doing some voluntary work in the past 2 months. Part of the reason for this is that all (most) of my friends were there for me in December when I broke up with my wife. I was going through a torrid time but they helped me pull through.

I thought - not everyone is that lucky to have a natural support network around them. Some people are left to fight adversity on their own. One of the most influential people in my life over the past 5+ years has been my mother-in-law who has and is battling cancer and so I asked her advice for some charities that had helped her.

She suggested the Duchess of Kent House which is a local house/hospice for cancer patients in Reading and surrounding areas. http://www.dokhc.org.uk/Pages/Default.aspx?pid=MQA=

After looking on their website I saw that they were looking for volunteers to help with their bereavement support visiting service which helps the friends and families of patients at the house with their grief after they pass away. I must point out that not all the people that go to the Duchess of Kent house to die, they have day-care support and support groups for people at different stages and they do see people come in and then leave again.

I thought the bereavement support service was perfect for me as I want to help others and so in March I spent 30+ hours training for this. It was a bit of a roller coaster emotionally as we had to visit some of our own demons in terms of loss - I lost my dad in 2007 and so it wasn't too long ago I was going through the early stages of grief.

I've now finished the training and I was referred my first client the other day - who didn't want the service. I hope I can make a difference to someone's life soon, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

This is the charity I want to try and raise money for when I eventually do the marathon race. They're a fantastic, local charity that help a lot of people and so I want to help them if I can. I hope some of you will sponsor me when I do the race as it's a fantastic cause.

Thanks for reading!

Erik