Marie Curie worker gets award for her fundraising

Occupational therapist Jackie Brooks has received a national award for her ‘tireless fundraising’ for the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull.

Despite spending all her working hours at the new centre in Marsh Lane, Jackie has also devoted her spare time to raising much-needed funds for the cause so the hospice can continue to support terminally ill patients and their loved ones.

So far she has raised more than £84,000 for the charity – and her amazing efforts have seen her awarded a Halifax Giving Extra Award after being nominated by the mother of one of her patients.

Commenting on her award Jackie said: “I’m blown away to have been nominated and selected, but this really isn’t about me it’s all about my patients.”

Awards ambassador, TV and Heart FM presenter Jenni Falconer, added: “Jackie truly deserves this recognition for all she has done to help others, improve community life and has made a real difference to the people living in Solihull.”

Jackie is devoted to fundraising for the patients. She’s always embarking on a new challenge and is currently preparing to cycle the Canadian Rockies, snowshoe across Lapland, trek along the Jurassic Coast line and take on the Great Wall of China for a second time to help raise vital funds for the hospice. Each event she has done has been in memory of or in honour of a patient she has looked after or is looking after.

She added: “We are the arms, legs and eyes of our patients and if we raise money in their honour then so be it, we do these events for them – not for us. I have been doing all these events with a colleague and every time we complete a challenge we hold up a sign that was handmade for us some years back which reads ‘This Is For You’ and we take a picture and give it to the patient or their family. I will continue to do all I can for Marie Curie while I can because you never know what will happen tomorrow.”

Read full story here: http://www.solihullobserver.co.uk/2014/02/13/news-Marie-Curie-worker-gets-award-for-tireless-fundraising-96222.html