SWINDON friends Trisha Page and Lisa Preuss completed the 100km Thames Path Challenge to raise funds in memory of Shaniqwa Gooden, who died from a brain tumour at the age of just three.

Shaniqwa was the daughter of Trisha’s best friend Hayley Gooden. She died in 2011 just days before Christmas.

The money raised will go towards Helen & Douglas House, a hospice for children and young adults that cared for Shaniqwa in the months before her death and which Shaniqwa’s mum said she could not have done without during her daughter’s illness.

Trisha said: “At only two years old beautiful Shaniqwa was suddenly diagnosed with a life-threatening cancerous brain tumour.

“She underwent months of aggressive treatment, and despite being so tiny and fragile, she was the strongest and bravest person we knew.

“Her smile, cheekiness and funny personality lived on throughout her months of treatment.

“Heartbreakingly, we found out that Shaniqwa’s illness was too aggressive for her tiny body and as she became more and more poorly, Shaniqwa’s mum Hayley was told about Helen House in Oxford.

“Having never been to a children’s hospice, Hayley and those around her imagined it would be a depressing and sad place. We were wrong. When we visited Shaniqwa, Hayley and Dyniesha – Shaniqwa’s sister – there it was such a lovely, positive and inspiring place.

“The support, kindness and empathy of all the staff was crucial during Shaniqwa’s final days and continued during her funeral and beyond.”

So far, the pair have raised more than £2,000.