In May this year, I lost my nan.

Anyone who knows me knows just how much she meant to me. She wasn’t only my nan, she was one of the people who believed in me from the very beginning and played such a huge part in the life and business I have today.

When I had the idea to start JLUXE back in 2020,  My nan lent me £4,000 to help me get it off the ground. JLUXE would not exist today without her believing in me enough to give me that chance.

Over the years she watched that little business I started from my bedroom grow into something I could never have imagined at the time. So much of what I have built traces back to that initial bit of belief and support from her.

Earlier this year, towards the end of my nan’s life, Longfield Community Hospice cared for her during her final weeks. Without the go ahead of the external funding, because my nan was in such a critical condition they cared for her for free.

Until you experience hospice care first-hand, I don’t think you fully understand what places like Longfield do. They didn’t just care for my nan, they supported our family through one of the hardest periods of our lives and gave her care, comfort and dignity when she needed it most.

I will forever be grateful to them.

So this October, I’m doing something that feels very full circle.

I’m running the Stroud Half Marathon in memory of my nan and raising money for Longfield.

And there’s another part to this story that makes it even more special.

When I was doing my GCSE Art, I created a piece of artwork for my nan. I could never have imagined at the time that years later I would take that same piece of art and turn it into something that would become part of JLUXE.

But that is exactly what we’ve done.

On the day I run the half marathon at the start line, JLUXE will launch a new performance running collection featuring a print created from that original piece of artwork I made for her all those years ago.

A percentage of the profits from the collection will also be donated to Longfield.

There’s something incredibly special to me about bringing all of these parts of my life together.

The artwork I made for my nan.

The business she helped me start.

The hospice that cared for her at the end of her life.

And now pushing myself to run 13.1 miles in her memory.

I know there are going to be moments during those miles where it hurts and I question why on earth I signed myself up for this