After a long battle with Leukemia my client and lovely friend Sandra passed away in January this year.

I met Sandra through our telephone befriending scheme after she lost her husband. She was struggling with Lockdown and feeling lonely and isolated, we spent many Wednesday afternoons putting the world to rights and having such a giggle and a moan.

After Lockdown Staying Well Workers got back out into the community but the decision was made for me to continue to support Sandra as we had built up such a strong friendship. It made me realise how important befriending can be, as she would chat to me about things she struggled to talk to close friends and family about.

After the initial shock of loosing Sandra, I decided I wanted to do something in her memory and decided to raise money for Cancer Research by running the 5K Race for Life. My aim was to raise £150 but amazingly I managed to raise £640.

I am extremely proud of this and think Sandra would be too. It was a hard run but I smashed it with support from my family and Sandra’s family too. Sandra will be fondly missed but I will always remember running the race in memory of my friend.

By Helen B – Staying Well Worker