A FARNHAM man is taking on the London Marathon for the third time this April to raise money for Phyllis Tuckwell.

Alex Whattingham is taking on the challenge again in memory of Chris Meacham, his brother Elliott’s dad, with the goal of raising £2,000.

Chris sadly passed away last October while in the care of Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice after a short battle with cancer.

Alex hopes to complete the marathon in under four hours and says that he has decided to run again “firstly because I have the ‘bug’”.

He said: “My friend Cathy French also passed away over a decade ago, while also being cared for by the hospice. So they are indeed very close to my heart.

“The care they provide is not just critical but they show true empathy to all associated with loved ones who are sadly not with us anymore.

“You hear about the work they do all the time but it’s not until you see it first hand that you truly realise that everyone there is nothing less than an angel.

“When the opportunity came about to run in their memory while raising money for the hospice, well I just had to.”

But, it’s not the first time the Farnham family have raised money for Phyllis Tuckwell.

At Christmas Alex’s mum, Gail Whattingham, continued the ‘Farnham Christmas House’ tradition, which she began in 1989 with Chris by decorating their house in Greenfield Road with fairy lights.

Now, almost 30 years later, they have a collection of over 100,000 bulbs and have raised more than £25,000 for a variety of charities, thanks to admirers posting donations through Gail’s letterbox.

Alex is currently looking for companies to sponsor him and for donations, online at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/EllsWhattingham .

If you aren’t in a position to donate Alex just asks that you share his story, but if you can do both then “Wow you are truly amazing!”