Man vs Coast for Stephen's House

Back in March 2020 I was preparing to run the Brighton Marathon to raise funds for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund on behalf of a beautiful local family who unbelievably had lost their mother, father and brother to this cruel disease. As lockdown hit the Brighton Marathon was cancelled and I never got to fundraise.

In November of 2020 we were hit with the unbelievable news that my 63 year old Uncle had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and after a brave battle lost his fight in June 2021. His loss has been unbelievably devastating for all of us who knew him. For me he was more than just an uncle - he gave the speech at my wedding, he rung me on sunday nights to check-in and we would holiday 3 or 4 times a year together. He was a 2IC father figure for my sister and I and a quasi grand-father figure for my children. He was unbelievably special, and possessed the rare skill of making all those he came into contact with feel valued - regardless as to who it was (my aunt received a condolence card from the Aga engineer's wife because each time he came back from servicing my Uncle's aga her husband mentioned what a lovely man he was!).

One of Uncle Stephen's passions was for those less fortunate than himself and at the time of his death he was working on an amazing project with St Laurence's Church in Ludlow to create a safe sanctuary within Ludlow for people to use in times of crisis - whether it be addictions, abuse, exploitation or poor mental health. He had started a project which has now been named Stephen's House in his honour and I feel compelled to do all I can to raise funds in his honour. They require £250,000 to open this house and so far have raised around £50,000.

On behalf of the Wallace family and my Uncle Stephen I will be taking part in the Man vs Coast on the 2nd July with Stephen's son Rob. We all so enjoyed Cornwall together, it was our special place (hence the photos!), and so it feels fitting that we will be running 25 miles across cliffs, beaches and, in part, swimming through the sea (!) down in Penzance. The elite runners finish in 4.5 hours, with most people 8-10 hours. So it's going to be a gruelling (and emotional!) day.

Any pennies you can spare for this special cause will be so gratefully received.