“I’m Mollie Smith, lead nurse for Kingston Hospital’s paediatric outreach nursing team (PONT), a community nursing service run by a small team of dedicated paediatric nurses, who have a wealth of experience in many areas of paediatric nursing and provide ongoing support to children in the community. We care for children at home for anything from cancer care to support of babies with jaundice.”
“I decided to take on the Iron Man 70.3 Les Sables dOlonne in France in late June this year, to help ensure we can continue to provide outstanding care to the children in Kingston in the comfort of their own homes, reducing the need for scary hospital admissions. This is my fifth Iron Man 70.3 triathlon endurance race that I have now successfully completed. It entailed a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile cycle and a half marathon to finish. To help me prepare, I took on the Hampton Court Half Marathon in March this year.”
“Family is so important to me. My parents have always supported me in previous races and they came to watch my first Ironman 70.3 in Zurich in 2018. My dad then got the triathlon bug and raced alongside me in my next Ironman 70.3 race in Lahti, where my mum came to support us both. We haven’t done a race without each other since! It is such an honour to be able to race alongside my dad and I hope we can do many more races in the future together with our number one supporter and chief photographer, my mum.”
“Being able to support Kingston Hospital Charity, where you can see the money raised making such a difference, brings me great joy. I hope as long as I can race with my family, that I can continue to give back to other families that use Kingston Hospital’s services. Many thanks to all who have generously sponsored me as I took on my latest Iron Man, helping me successfully raise over £700 to further improve the caring services we provide to our children across our community.”
If you are looking to take on a fundraising challenge in support of a service at Kingston Hospital, please do get in touch with Rupert at r.meredith-jones@nhs.net or by calling 020 8973 5041.