Madeleine Voice, from Shoreham, resolved to take part in the Brighton Marathon and signed up within a few weeks of Nic’s death, she said: “I am apprehensive about taking on such a big challenge but want to do something positive for Nic and his family for a charity that was clearly very important to him.”

Madeleine – a social worker at West Sussex County Council – will be running in a T-shirt with a printed photo of herself and Nic and one of his sayings that sums up his commitment to CPRE and the Sussex countryside: “we have to protect it or lose it”.

Nic Packwood soon became an integral part of CPRE Sussex after joining in 2000. He held various roles over the years including Branch Trustee, Treasurer and Chairman of Horsham and Crawley district. In a tribute to Nic appearing in the Summer 2012 edition of CPRE Sussex’s magazine, Sussex Review, Nic was described as serving CPRE Sussex with great distinction and dedication, and as Treasurer from 2002 to 2009, brought ‘all his business and financial acumen to this vital role’.

Rodney Chambers, CPRE Sussex Chairman of Trustees, said: “Nic’s untimely death was a great shock to me and his many friends and colleagues in CPRE Sussex. I miss him a great deal and am delighted that his god-daughter Madeleine is running this marathon to keep his name remembered and honoured.”

Brighton University graduate Madeleine said on her Just Giving page that CPRE Sussex is “a charity Nic was heavily involved with and was close to his heart and I know that he would be so pleased that I have chosen this as my charity.”

CPRE Sussex is an environmental charity that campaigns to protect the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of the Sussex countryside. The countryside is more in need than ever with concerns ranging from the many difficulties affecting farmers, and being at the start of a new era with a ‘presumption in favour of development’, with many Councils not yet with Local Plans in place.

To sponsor Madeleine please visit www.justgiving.com/Madeleine-Voice