Matt runs from Worthing to Winchelsea to celebrate “spirited and adventurous” mother

Matt Bennathan, an advertising technology executive from South East London, will run an ancient pilgrims’ trail this February in memory of his mother Jenny Corrick, who lived in Worthing.

Jenny, who was 67 when she died, was cared for by St Barnabas House hospice, and it is from there that Matt will depart for his six-day journey on 15 February – the day after Jenny’s birthday.

The Old Way is one of the earliest mapped routes in Great Britain, stretching from Southampton all the way along the South Downs to Canterbury, the ancient capital of England. Matt will run 158km of the route, finishing at Winchelsea in East Sussex.

“For me, there’s something magical about the very ancient nature of this route and the fact that so many people have walked it over more than 1,000 years, all for their own different, personal, spiritual reasons,” says Matt.

“There’s also a lot of personal resonance for me. On day two the route will take me past my mum’s grave in Clayton Woods near Hassocks.”

By embarking on this adventure, Matt hopes to honour Jenny’s appetite for life, as well as raising money for the hospice that cared for her in her last weeks.

“Mum was spirited, adventurous and positive,” he says. “She had bags of energy, and nothing was ever too difficult – I hope to emulate that can-do attitude in my own life. My parents were very young when they had my sister, Ella, and me. They divorced in 1984 but remained friends. By the time we left home, Mum had just turned 40 and was ready for new adventures. She moved to a tiny island off the coast of Sicily, where she learned to speak Italian in the local dialect, and later to France. She was very connected to flora and fauna and everywhere she went, she created these astonishing landscaped gardens.”

Jenny’s love of nature meant she appreciated the outside spaces at St Barnabas. “She liked listening to the birds and looking out over the South Downs,” says Matt.

“St. Barnabas was just exceptional – absolutely superb. Nothing was too much trouble for the staff, and everybody was brilliant in the way they took care of mum.

“Every year she used to design and make her own Christmas cards. It was a big thing for her and her friends and family. She died on 23 December, so there was a big project to get her Christmas cards out, aided by the very patient staff at the hospice.”

So far, Matt has raised more than £3,000 for St Barnabas House. “I wanted to make sure that the hospice continues to have the funds to provide the level of care that it does. Everybody knows that healthcare budgets are under increasing pressure and I wanted to make sure that other people’s mums and dads can be looked after in the same way.”

To support Matt with his fundraising, go to his JustGiving page