A WIDOW is to take on a colour fun run in her wedding dress as a tribute to her painter husband.

Helen Marshall, from Quaking Houses, near Stanley, married her long-term partner, Jimmy, last December at St Cuthbert’s Hospice, where he was being treated.

The couple married in a winter wonderland wedding just a fortnight before he died from bowel cancer at the age of 58.

On June 4, Helen and her children Chloe and Daniel, want to give something back to the hospice by running the colour fun run, Colourama.

Most people will begin in the run in a white hospice T-shirt, but she intends running in the red wedding gown she wore on her big day.

Mrs Marshall credits the Durham City hospice with helping to fill the couple’s last few weeks together with love and laughter.

“I think the staff would agree Jimmy was a colourful character and, as a painter and decorator, it’s quite apt to do this for him," she said.

“I’m taking part in memory of Jimmy and to say thank you for all the support and help we both received over the last year.

“I don’t think there’s anywhere he would have been better looked after than at St Cuthbert’s Hospice and it’s a comfort to feel he had the best care possible".

She added: “I expected it to be a scary and depressing place and I was dreading it but it wasn’t like that at all, everyone is kind and welcoming and nothing is too much for them.”

The event will take place at Aykley Heads, Durham, and will see participants of all ages showered in multi-coloured powder paint as they either walk or run around the 5k course.

The run includes a series of obstacles, including a water slide, cargo nets and hay bales.

At the first ever event last year, Colourama saw more than 1,500 people run and raise more than £70,000 for the Hospice and it is hoped that this year will be just as successful, with organisers pulling out all the stops to ensure it is a great day.

St Cuthbert’s Hospice, based at Merryoaks in Durham, opened in 1988 and provides care for people with life limiting conditions, as well as offering support to their families.

To register for Colourama, visit www.stcuthbertshospice.com or contact the development team on 0191 368 1170 extension 5.