On the 22nd of July 2008, my Grandad John suffered two strokes in quick succession. He spent the next and last 2 weeks of his life in hospital trying to recover. Despite all the fantastic care and support he received in a number of hospitals in Leicestershire, he sadly died on the 7th August.

Losing family and those you hold close is always difficult, in particular I’ve found when it’s after suffering in this case a Stroke or having battled with Cancer etc. In this instance I had an almost immediate reaction that I wanted to do something positive in my Grandad’s memory, by raising money and awareness to help those affected by strokes.

In early December this began to take shape when I became aware of The Stroke Association and ideas for what to do in 2009 were floating around in my head. The Stroke Association fund research into strokes and provide help/support to those who are affected. I’ve been really surprised just how common strokes are and also the lack of awareness there is surrounding the condition and the work done by the charity.

In brief, I’m going to push myself physically through a number of activities to raise as much money and awareness of the fantastic work done by The Stroke Association, all in memory of my Grandad, John Moore.