Ok, it's getting close now and stories of what is in store for us on the day are creeping - literally - out! Thank you all so much for your generous donations.

On 27th October a group of high profile business executives will be enduring a series of trials in aid of St Nicholas Hospice Care. Each participant aims to raise £1,000 of much needed funds. Please make it worth me enduring snakes and spiders and eating disgusting bugs.

Here's a story to illustrate some of the great things we do

'Dear Rob, Sue and Dave and all the other wonderful volunteers who helped Olivia and myself when we attended the child bereavement counselling sessions in May,

I wanted to write to you all to thank you all so very much for what you have done for Olivia in particular, but also for myself too. Losing James, my husband and Olivia’s daddy, so suddenly was something so horrible and shocking, an event we would never in our wildest nightmares have thought we would experience and then endure for the rest of our lives.

As a mother, all you want to do it protect your child from the pain but I didn’t know how to do that. From our first meeting Rob, within a week of James’ death, you and your colleagues at Nicky’s Way have offered advice, support, comfort and caring at each step of our journey, helping to guide Olivia and myself through this truly horrific maze of pain. The course in May has helped Olivia and myself enormously. More and more of my happy little girl is coming back – she is able to enjoy life again whilst knowing it is OK to miss and love and talk about her daddy. The group sessions for myself have been invaluable – a gift that I wasn’t expecting. Sue and Dave, thank you so very much for allowing us all to share, cry and collectively learn from each other.

My words don’t do you all justice – what you all do for people like my family going through the worst times of their lives is humbling, remarkable and so incredibly appreciated. To my angels here on earth – all I can say is thank you all for being here for us.'

We get less than 20% of our funding from the NHS; the rest we raise from wonderful people doing wonderful things to support us and it's about time I tried to do my bit...

See what last year's contestants endured here:

https://stnicholashospice.org.uk/subject/fundraising-subject/day-trials-challenges-raises-thousands/