FOR former Oxford Mail employee Richard Pope, the death of his beloved wife did not mark the end of his relationship with Sobell House.

He spent so much time with staff as they rallied round Kelly Pope in her final days, that he came to regard the hospice as "a part of" him.

It has been little more than a year since the 39-year-old said his final goodbye to his wife, who was just 35 when she lost a three-year battle with bowel cancer.

Since then he has raised more than £10,000 for the hospice through a daring skydive and an intense eight-hour gym circuit session.

The Stanford-in-the-Vale resident, who left the newspaper's advertising department last year, said: "You can keep someone’s memory alive by doing all the fundraising and know it’s going to a good cause. It’s two-fold. It’s about trying to give a bit back. When you have experienced such an amazing place you feel compelled to do something."

Mr Pope, who is now a support worker at the John Radcliffe Hospital, began his fundraising mission at his wife's funeral and raised £1,100.

He said Mrs Pope, who had been married to him for five years, had set her sights on Sobell after she saw the care they gave her mum Jayne Trinder.

The 55-year-old Southmoor resident, who was suffering from skin cancer, died at the hospice in 2012.

Mr Pope said: "Everyone has an idea about how they want to depart this world and the only thing Kelly wanted was to be at Sobell. The care they gave her mum was literally second to none, they can’t do enough for you. It’s not just about the person who’s ill, it’s everyone who’s involved, even people who deal with cups of tea. I can never thank them enough.

"If you go into the centre of Oxford and ask 100 people, I think about 97 will have had some sort of contact with Sobell, whether it’s directly or through a friend of a friend."

Mrs Pope stayed at Sobell for two and a half weeks before her death, and Mr Pope said one of her nurses stayed on shift after hours especially to support the family in those final seconds.

He said: "You know what the end result will be but it’s what you do to make that journey better for that person.

"The palliative care was 24/7 and anything she wanted was on tap. They think of every aspect. No request is too much. Even just wheeling Kelly out into the garden for fresh air, those simple things that you don’t think of at the time – that might be the last time goes into a garden."

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A group of Mrs Pope's friends and brother, who have named themselves Kelly's Heroes, will cycle from London to Brighton later this month in her memory.

MOONLIGHT STROLL

THIS is the garish get-up that brightened the night for care home staff, who strode through Oxford under the stars for Sobell's Moonlight Stroll.The annual walk, which was extended to 10km this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary, is the biggest fundraiser in the hospice's calendar.

June Maharaj, manager of Bridge House Care Home in Abingdon, led a team of staff in July dressed in seventies-themed costume to match the event's theme this year.

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She said: "Sobell House plays a vital role within the local community. The work they do and the difference they make to people who are at the end of their lives is amazing. The specialist Sobell nurses work with the team at Bridge House and together we strive to make each moment really matter for both the residents and their loved ones.

"It is so important that we provide the very best quality of care at what is a very difficult time. The Sobell team help provide family support and also give us reassurance that we are doing everything in the best possible way with end of life care. This is why we decided to back Sobell House in their efforts to increase the number of people they can care for and create more space and an improved social environment, that is much needed to ensure families can spend precious time together."

She signed the care home up to raise £10,000 for Sobell as part of the hospice's 40 Club, which features local local businesses that have volunteered to help achieve its fundraising target.