James Brock, assistant manager at the Rustington office of Michael Jones estate agents is getting into shape for a fundraising challenge for a local hospice.

James’ family and friends have benefited enormously from the services St Barnabas Hospice provides and for this reason James and his sister Kelly Stafford are taking part in the Brighton Marathon later this month.

St Barnabas House provides specialist palliative care to adults with advanced progressive life-limiting illnesses. The hospice provides care for the whole person, aiming to meet all needs – physical, emotional, social and spiritual. Many people still think of a hospice as a place where people go to die, and while they do look after people in their last days, it is only a small part of what they do. Other services include symptom management and pain relief, respite care, a day hospice and counselling for both the patient and their family. The hospice also has a chaplain, physiotherapists, complementary therapists, an artist-in-residence, social workers and community and Hospice at Home teams.

The community team is available seven days a week and offers specialist advice and support to patients and their families in their own home. The Hospice at Home team operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provides hands on care for patients at home. It costs well over £5million pounds a year to provide all of these services, and patients are never charged for their care. Only a small part of these costs are covered by statutory funding, for the remainder they rely on the generosity, help and support of the local community, and fundraisers such as James.

By sponsoring James for his Brighton Marathon challenge you will be helping St Barnabas Hospice to raise the vital funds they need to extend their Hospice at Home night service and care for even more local people in the comfort of their own homes.

If you would like to sponsor James and Kelly please visit their Just Giving page justgiving.com/keeprunningjimbo