March Family
Since the beginning of the year, the March family have taken on an array of incredible challenges to raise a phenomenal £4,000 for Rowans Hospice Charity. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Lee and Natalie along with their two children; Henry and Phoebe, about how the challenges went and why they decided to support the Charity.
Lee’s Mum, affectionately known as Nanny Chocolate because of the chocolate tin in her lounge that was always overflowing ready for her Grandchildren’s visits, was looked after by the Rowans Hospice team during her fight against terminal cancer. Lee described the level of care as “beyond anything we could have imagined. They really looked after her and we felt like we were kind of a family here which definitely made her a lot more comfortable. After she passed I had a few sessions with Paul (the Bereavement Team) who was just brilliant and really helped me come to terms with things and deal with my grief. We feel we owe the Charity a lot and just want to keep supporting them so they can help other people in the way they helped Mum.”
Henry and Phoebe got very creative when taking part in our Rowans Great Big Bake Off. Their finished masterpiece was a delicious chocolate cake, filled with salted caramel icing and covered with chocolate ganache – complete with handmade figures of their family, who they were missing very much due to the COVID-19 restrictions at the time. Through this virtual event, Henry and Phoebe raised a fantastic £302 and started off their family’s year of fundraising.
The March family have been long-term supporters of the Hospice, with Natalie and Lee both previously taking part in running events such as the Great South Run and the Gosport Half Marathon however this year Natalie decided to take on her biggest running challenge yet; the Milton Keynes Marathon! We are so inspired by Natalie – a marathon is so much more than a run, there is a huge amount of dedication and training required both physically and mentally. We’d like to congratulate Natalie on this huge personal achievement and for raising an incredible £1,932 for Rowans Hospice Charity.
Lee and Natalie, along with a wonderful group of friends, then took on their most demanding challenge to date – the ‘National 3 Peaks Challenge’ where they would climb the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales with a target of completing the challenge within just 24 hours. This truly is a gruelling test of stamina, determination and perseverance but we were so pleased to hear the group really enjoyed themselves throughout and managed to get some rest in the van between destinations – Natalie said “I would do a marathon anyday over 3 Peaks as it was really hard!” Only 40% of walkers complete the challenge within 24 hours so another huge congratulations is in order as Natalie and Lee finished with 16 minutes to spare and raised £1,766 – bringing their fundraising total for this year to £4,000!
We asked Lee and Natalie if they have any advice for other people who are looking to fundraise and their number one tip is “Pick an activity, whether it is one Rowans Hospice Charity have organised or one you have arranged by yourself, and do the training so you can properly ENJOY IT!”
Within the last year, we have had many lockdowns and restrictions in place due to COVID-19 which has meant that the majority of our Charity fundraising events have been adapted and held online. The March family really embraced their fundraising goals by joining our online/virtual events in addition to creating their own challenges.
The Charity’s reliance on voluntary donations remains critical in the aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic and we are extremely grateful to the March family for their support at this vital time. If you have been inspired by the March family and would like to raise funds for Rowans Hospice Charity please click here for fundraising ideas.