Windsor's 'super grandma', 81, prepares for Thames Hospice's 'thank you' walk

A “super” pensioner from Windsor is lacing up her walking boots for a hike to pay her respects to Thames Hospice, which “put a smile on her husband’s face” in his final days.

Jan Barber, 81, – the 'Super Granny' – will join hundreds of people in the hospice's annual Sunflower Walk in September to remember their deceased loved ones and help raise money for the charity that cared for them.

The march is one of the hospice's most important fundraising events and participants walk up to 10 kilometers.

Jan is taking part in the 2.5km walk and has set a target of £1,000.

She said: “I just want to get an incredible amount of money and give you a gift as a thank you.

“I was a little depressed – and getting tearful – but I thought, 'Why are you sitting here like this? You should do something about it.'”

Jan is no stranger to successful fundraising, having completed a marathon walk from Land's End to John O'Groats in 1993.

Then she raised money to fight cerebral palsy – in memory of one of her grandchildren who suffers from the disease.

As the miles traveled, so did their fundraising efforts.

She exceeded her target and was able to donate £20,000 to charity – earning her the nickname “Super Granny”.

This time, however, the Sunflower Walk will be a different challenge.

Jan suffers from walking difficulties caused by lymphedema, which leads to swelling in her legs. She needs a walking stick to get around.

This year she will be raising funds inspired by another close family member: her late husband Phil, who was cared for by the hospice when he died in 2015.

The couple met on Valentine's Day 1963 and married in October of the same year.

“It was simply love at first sight,” said Jan.

“When he brought me home that Valentine's Day, I got a kind of electric shock and just thought: I'm going to marry this man.”

Phil – a huge Newcastle United fan – served in the military with the Windsor Lifeguards before starting a career at the Mars factory in Slough.

In the last years of his life, he suffered from breathing difficulties that got worse and worse until he finally had to go to a hospice. Jan remembers two nurses who looked after her husband at the time and “put a smile on his face”.

After being in and out of the care of Thames Hospice – moving between its previous site at Pine Lodge and its home care service – Phil died on September 2 at the age of 72.

He lived with an aortic aneurysm, an enlargement of the blood vessel in the main artery of the heart.

To make matters even more problematic, Phil's condition had deteriorated to the point where doctors could no longer operate.

“He had emphysema and COPD,” Jan said.

“It went on like that for a few years – the last time he went to the hospital, the doctor said to me: 'Your husband is a very sick man, did you know that?'

“I said 'yes' and he told me 'just be prepared.'

“Phil couldn't drive anymore, couldn't do a lot of things anymore. You could see how his condition was getting worse, but he carried on.

“He never gave up and always tried to really do something for me so that I wouldn't have to worry anymore.”

This year the couple would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

On the day he died, the two nurses from Thames Hospice who had cared for him the whole time were there.

Jan said: “They came and laid him on his bed, put his Newcastle T-shirt on and gave him the remote control.

“They blamed it all on him and then showed up at his funeral.

“We didn’t ask for flowers, just some money for the hospice.

“These two nurses are still here and I can’t thank them enough.

“This is my way of saying, 'You've done this before, girl – just go out and run for this good cause.'”

Last year's Sunflower Walk raised a crucial £100,000 to enable the charity to continue helping people who need it.

A sunflower is the symbol of hospice care in the UK.

Every year, fundraisers like Jan help Thames Hospice raise the over £12 million it needs.

Jan said: “Just maintaining the hospice must cost a lot of money – I think a lot of hospices have financial problems because they don’t get much from the government.

“I may have to do a sit-in outside 10 Downing Street next – depending on how this walk goes.”

You can support Jan and her fundraiser for Thames Hospice via her Justgiving page.

To find out more about the Sunflower Walk and to sign up, visit the Thames Hospice website.