A teenager whose terminally ill mother was nursed in her final days at St Peter's Hospice has donated £860 to the charity.

Christopher John, 17, from Nailsea, recently returned to St Peter's Hospice in Brentry to present a cheque for £860.00 to the charity who cared for his mother five years ago. The Backwell Comprehensive School pupil, took part the Snowdonia Marathon, the Swindon half-marathon and Cardiff half-marathon over three consecutive weekends last October to raise the money.

Christopher said: "My mum Rosemary died of a brain tumour at the age of 47 and was cared for by the hospice. She spent a month in Brentry in November 2003 where the doctors and nurses managed to stabilise her condition enough to send her home.

"She then had four or five visits for respite care during 2004 before she passed away at the Hospice in October 2004.

"The care my mum, dad and me and my three brothers received was far beyond any job description.

"I can remember the nurses giving us biscuits, letting us play on the Nintendo and being there for us if we needed to talk.

"I also remember how beautiful the gardens were at the Hospice and we all spent a lot of time there looking at the water fountains if we needed time to think. I have never done any fundraising before but enjoy running so as soon as I was old enough to enter races I thought I could raise some money for St Peter's to give something back to them. "It was just a small way to say thank you for all they did for us."

Hospice fundraiser John Flanagan said: "We are so grateful to Christopher for undertaking this marathon effort on our behalf and to everyone who sponsored him."

"St. Peter's Hospice provides specialised care free of charge to over 1,900 local people every year with incurable cancer and other life limiting illnesses.

"The cost of providing this unique and specialised service to the people of Bristol is £5.3million per year so the money raised by Christopher will allow us to continue our vital work and ensure people will receive the same sort of care his mum received at Brentry.

"If anyone wants to follow his example but run a bit closer to home St Peter's Hospice are the nominated local charities to benefit from the Bristol 10k on May 10 and Bristol Half Marathon on September 6.

"If you don't fancy running but still want to help your local hospice we are also looking for 150 marshals to help man routes at both races.

Contact Anna Cairns on 915 9300 to find out more."