Zara’s promise: 150-mile tribute to her father and St Peter’s Hospice
Teacher Zara Kindred is making good on a promise she made to her late father 10 years ago while he was being cared for at St Peter’s Hospice in Bristol.
She promised to raise £18,000 for the charity – the cost of running the service for a day in 2015 – to say thank you for the care he received there.
Zara from Henleaze has raised over £13,500 for the charity in the last decade and aims to collect the rest from a sponsored 150-mile walk and cycle ride from Great Torrington to Bristol, alongside her pet cockapoo Chester.
Rob Kindred, UK sales director for Dartington Crystal, and Falkland veteran died aged 52, in March 2015, nine weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive terminal illness.
“We are so thankful to St Peter’s for all they did for us and wanted to give something back,” said Zara, who teaches health and social care at Montpelier High School in Bristol.
“St Peter’s has a special place in our hearts. It was a place of safety where we had time to be together, to say everything we wanted to say to each other.
“I used to do my schoolwork, and my homework sat at his bedside.
“Although it was a sad time, we also see it as a time when we were closer than ever, sharing stories and simply being together in those final days.”
Rob was given two weeks to live after his diagnosis but lived for nine weeks, and he spent his final few weeks as a patient at St Peter’s Hospice.
“Before he died, I promised my dad I would raise £18,000 for the Hospice. They rely on donations, charity shop donations, gifts in wills and fundraising.
“It’s not just the care in the hospice, it’s the whole community, providing specialist nurse care, nurses who visit the home, support for the family and bereavement services.”
While at St Peter’s Hospice, Rob encouraged the family to make a list of the things they needed to do and achieve after his death. One of which was to get a dog.
"We started looking at different dogs, showing them to him and asking, ‘What do you think of this one?’ Among them was Chester, who was just a tiny pup at the time.
“My dad was right. He has brought us so much joy over the years. In a way, when I look at him, he feels like a link to my father – though sadly, they never had the chance to meet.”
Zara will start from Dartington Crystal’s factory and visitor’s centre in Great Torrington on 6 April, taking the coastal route to Bristol, ending at St Peter’s Hospice in Brentry on 11 April.
She will be joined on the route by her boyfriend George and mother Vicki. Zara’s brother James, who is currently living in Australia, will be sending his best wishes.
“My dad loved this part of the world; we would often go there on family holidays so it means a lot to me and my family and will bring back some great memories.”
Zara describes her father who was born in Newcastle as a big-hearted ‘kind Geordie’ who was loved and respected by those who knew him and worked hard for his family.
Rob left school and joined the Royal Navy, and later enjoyed a successful career with Waterford Wedgwood, Stuart Crystal, and Caithness Glass before joining Dartington Crystal in 2004.
Rob met his wife Vicki, while living in London and working as a Phileas Fogg crisps salesman. He later moved to Bristol to be with her.
At the end of her 150-mile odyssey, Zara will be raising a toast in memory of her father at The Beehive in Henleaze – her father’s favourite pub, where the family went every week while Zara was growing up.
Zara has currently raised an incredible £17,497 of her £18,000 target. To donate to her challenge visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/zaras-150-mile-challenge-for-st-peters-hospice
