...is it time YOU took up a challenge for hospice?

TO mark the 30th anniversary of the hospice, the fundraising team are working on an unparalleled Challenge Series of 30 adventures and events across the year.

Most of the events are still under wraps but plans include a London to Paris bike ride, a skydive and a fire walk.

Perhaps the most exciting plan is for an overseas challenge for the first time. Full details will be revealed soon but it is hoped that the challenge will take place in the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

Over the years, hospice supporters have found a way to combine their own personal challenges with fundraising in a bid to raise much-needed cash for the Millbank Drive facility – from mountainclimbing to cross-countrycycling; from running to swimming.

And someone who certainly knows how to take up the challenge for the hospice is 25-year-old Lucy Waters who, at the start of the year, committed to no less than 12 physical challenges – one a month.

Lucy, who had only ever run one 10k race before this year, decided to tackle the gruelling challenges in memory of her parents who both died within weeks of each other in 2015. Her mother, Susan, spent some time in the hospice before her death in March 2015 and a few weeks later her father Nick died suddenly of a blood clot. Lucy has now completed 11 of her challenges, which included a very muddy Tough Mudder in September, but with the toughest one coming last month when she completed the Chester Marathon. Other physical feats she’s taken on have included a 10k night run; a half marathon, a one-mile open water swim; a 65-mile coastal walk, a triathlon and the Three Peaks Challenge.

“I’ll admit it’s been tough doing one challenge a month,” she said. “The marathon was certainly one of the toughest but I was determined to carry on and finish despite flagging around the 18-mile mark.

“This time last year I never dreamt of being able to complete a marathon, never mind all the other challenges. But it’s the motivation of the cause that’s kept me going. When I get tired, I just think about why I’m doing this and somehow I find the energy to keep going.”

Last weekend, Lucy was cheered on by her fiancé Brett Oliver, as she tackled the demanding Commando Series in Kent where she faced a 12k course used by the Royal Marines during their training.

She plans to complete her own personal physical challenge series with another 10k run at Tatton Park next month before rounding off the year with a slightly more laid back fundraising event of a cake sale at her workplace with Cheshire Police.

And with 11 taxing challenges under her belt, what would her top tips be to anyone thinking about taking up a personal sporting feat? “Set up a training plan and then break it down into do-able chunks – that way it just doesn’t seem so daunting,” she said. “And get your friends involved to help spur you on – either to join you in training or in the challenge itself.”

Lucy hopes to raise £3,000 for the hospice by the end of the year and is already well on target, having raised more than £2,400 to date via her Just Giving page justgiving. com/fundraising/ fitnesschallenge2017.