A PERSONAL trainer has raised thousands of pounds for the hospice that cared for her late grandfather with a gruelling charity fitness day.

Kellie Warren, of Stockbridge, hosted an eight-hour ‘fitathon’ on Saturday at Houghton Village Hall.

Around 100 guests turned up throughout the day, with 36 attendees taking part in a variety of fitness classes from 9am until 5pm.

“It was hard work,” said Kellie. “It took a while but I’m recovered now.

“We did 45 minutes of exercise on the hour every hour. There was about five or six who did all eight hours, some did two or three, some came at lunchtime and did the afternoon.

“On every hour there was at least 12 people in every session.

“It just didn’t stop.”

Kellie was raising funds for Countess of Brecknock Hospice.

The charity cared for her grandfather, Andrew Judd, on three occasions prior to his death in December of last year.

“I wanted to give something back to the hospice,” she said.

“My grandad had been in there twice for treatment and once for the end of life care. All three times he was in there the nurses at the hospice were absolutely incredible. It was like a home from home.”

Funds for the hospice were raised through a mix of sponsorship and raffle ticket sales.

There were 74 prizes on offer in total, which Kellie had secured from a range of Hampshire businesses, from Finkley Down Farm to Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, as well as many others in Stockbridge whose owners had known her grandfather.

Kellie is still collecting donations but the total raised is already well into the thousands.

“We’ve counted what we’ve got, and we are up to £3,000.

She added: “I’m hoping we get to about £3,500 and anything more than that is a bonus.”

Tea, coffee and cake were also available throughout Saturday’s ‘fitathon’, with the proceeds adding to the total raised.

At the end of the day, Kellie took any leftover cake to the hospice to give to the night shift staff.

She says she built up quite a rapport with many of the nurses who helped take care of Andrew.

“They let us stay in, to put our beds in there and sleep next to him.”

She added: “They made us feel so welcome but not only that, they cared for my grandad with so much love, we cannot thank them enough for keeping him so peaceful right until the end.”