A WOMAN has reached her £3,250 fundraising target to allow her to take part in a trek in aid of the hospice where her partner received fantastic support in the final days before he died.

Michele Reynolds, 55, from Temple Rhydding Drive, Baildon, will tackle the trek in Sri Lanka to "give something back" to Bradford’s Marie Curie Hospice, where her partner Neil Foster died on the night of his 52nd birthday, in April last year.

Neil, originally from Tain in Scotland, struggled to recover from a hip replacement operation in January, 2014.

In the following months, he was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary where he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer that affects glands around the body.

Neil was later transferred to Bradford’s Marie Curie Hospice where he died just four weeks after being diagnosed on April 25.

Michele said: “It happened so quickly, I was in a state of shock.

“Neil was overwhelmed by the support they gave, not just to him and me, but to others who were suffering from cancer and other illnesses.

“I felt I had to give something back after all they had done for us.”

Following Neil’s death, Michele started to raise money for the hospice’s Sri Lanka Trek that will take place between November 6 and November 15 this year.

The two of them had planned to visit Sri Lanka, but they did not manage to visit the country before Neil died. When Michele saw a poster for the trek in the hospice and told Neil, she recalls it was him who told her to go.

“When I saw the poster I told Neil it was something I was thinking about doing for Marie Curie and he told me ‘go for it’.”

After Neil died, Michele began fundraising, starting with coffee mornings and quiz nights before she met her target last week at Baildon Golf Club during a charity golf day event.

She said: “I’m a keen golfer so I thought it might be a good way to raise money.

“Neil had avoided it where possible, he called my clubs 'bats' to wind me up and the closest he got to playing was pitch and putt at Whitby.”

Michele had aimed to raise £1,500 on the golf day, but ended up raising over £2,000 and put it down to Neil’s character that so many turned up and took part.

She said: “I was taken aback by the support that friends and relatives gave me. The whole experience has made me feel quite humble to know that Neil came into their lives as well as mine.

“The most difficult thing to cope with now is the loneliness in the evenings. I just hope that what I am doing will help someone else who has a terminal illness or their family.”

If you wish donate, visit www.justgiving.com/michele-reynolds, where all proceeds will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care.