A RUNNER from Oswaldtwistle aims to help a charity close to his heart by raising ‘£2,017 in 2017’.

Father-of-three Anthony Mathews, from Walter Street, wants to raise the money for East Lancashire Hospice after becoming aware of the charity’s work when it was caring for a family friend.

His partner was very close with Teresa Cole, who died aged 59 from breast cancer two and a half years ago, and spent her last few days at the hospice.

Seeing the support the charity gave the former Accrington and Rossendale College student, who worked at Bensons for Beds in Accrington, inspired Mr Mathews to take on his fundraising challenge.

The 32-year-old said: “It was a major blow when Teresa passed away, she was a very close friend of ours who spent her last days with the hospice.

“I wasn’t fully aware of the hospice and the work that they do in the whole community before then and if I thought that, I cannot be the only person.

“It’s a bit of a mammoth task, but I thought it would be a really good thing to raise awareness of what they do and raise some money for them.”

The business development executive only started running last year to take part in a 10k mud obstacle race in October. But Mr Mathews has now kick-started his campaign by raising £104 by running in the East Lancashire Hospice 10k this month.

He is also planning to run the Ron Hill Accrington 10k and Heaton Park 10k in March, and the Burnley 10k in May.

Mr Mathews is also looking to complete his first half marathon by the end of the year and help the hospice however he can. He said: “Everyone is in the lookout for events for me. They are giving me lots of support.

“I wanted to raise money for a local charity because you can see how your money is being spent, and you hear how much of a difference it is making in your community.” “East Lancashire Hospice makes a massive difference not only to the patients, but the friends and family afterwards. You can’t put a value on that.” Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/amathews2017.