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Follow in Sara’s footsteps at this year’s Rainbow Rush

24 June 2024
Sara also volunteers in the Hive Café at our Erdington site.

For Sara Jones, last year’s Rainbow Rush was particularly poignant as she signed up to take part while her husband Kevin was being cared for by the hospice. He died before the race itself, which took place two days after what would have been his 44th birthday.

Kevin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when he was 43 and was referred to Birmingham Hospice – where his brother was already being cared for – by his GP, first for home visits, and later for care in our Erdington Inpatient Unit.

Following the support that the family received, Sara signed up to take part in our first Rainbow Rush in September 2023, and she also volunteers in the Hive Café at our Erdington site, where she offers refreshments and a supportive ear for visitors.

Sara said: “Kev was a happy, lively and friendly chap who’d had lots of different experiences in his life, before working as a windscreen fitter for 20 years or so. We were together for 25 years and had three children and a granddaughter.

“After he was referred to the hospice, initially we had home visits, then he was a patient at the IPU. We were given support afterwards as well; we had a memory box made and a teddy bear with a voice recording of Kev. We have positive memories of being able to support him in a non-hospital environment.”

Kevin’s family signed up to take part in the Rainbow Rush last year, and were joined by more family and friends until eventually 21 people were taking part in his memory. All of the family, including Kevin, used social media to gain sponsorship, with Kevin’s workplace also helping to drum up support. In the end, his family raised just over £2,000, with income from other teams on top of that.

Sara added: “We decided to sign up to Rainbow Rush in July because we know how vital fundraising is for the hospice. First of all it was myself, my daughter, both of my sons and a friend, and it ended up with 21 of us taking part. Kev passed before the Rainbow Rush, so at his celebration of life we asked that any voluntary contributions went directly to the event.

“The atmosphere was amazing – everyone came together and we started off laughing and dancing as we warmed up. We took it at our own pace – you could walk, you could run, some people skipped – it was entirely up to you. For me personally, it was a joy to do but it was also sad crossing the finish line, knowing the reason that we were there.

“We had a good laugh, admittedly a cry too, but we did it!”

This year’s Rainbow Rush takes place on Saturday 21 September. Follow in the footsteps of people like Sara and join us to take over Cofton Park with colour, foam, dance zones, inflatables, music and laughter in the most colourful fun run in Brum.

Sign up now.