Fighting spirit of Chris is honoured with memorial prize

Edge Hill is to award an annual prize to a student who overcomes adversity during their studies in memory of a brave woman who achieved success against the odds.

The Chris Hope Memorial Prize will be presented to a second year student on either the BA Women's Health, BA Health and Social Care or Foundation Degree in Complementary Therapies.

Nominations of candidates will be made by course leaders during the spring and the first Prize will be awarded in October 2010.

Chris Hope's story will inspire generations of students facing challenging circumstances.

Chris, from Oxford, left school at 16 with just two O Levels. After a brief first marriage she was left to bring up her young son Matthew as a single parent. 

Chronic back problems made life even more of a struggle for her but she was determined to get the necessary qualifications to enable her to find work and support her child. 

Soon after enrolling on an Open University Psychology module, Chris developed a thirst for learning that would stay with her for the rest of her life. 

She passed a GCSE in Maths and completed a year's course in A Level Maths before being accepted as a mature student at London Guildhall University. Despite the need to juggle her studies with her parenting responsibilities and a job at a care home, she gained a 2:1.

During this period she also saw a manipulative therapist who finally managed to cure the problems with her back. This led to a lifetime interest in alternative therapies.

After graduating, Chris decided to train as an occupational therapist and won one of only two scholarships awarded that year by the Royal London Hospital for the two year postgraduate accelerated training scheme. 

On completion of her studies in 1995 she and her partner Des moved to the North West where she started work as an occupational therapist. The following year the pair sealed a 16-year romance by getting married.

With one eye always on the next challenge, Chris took a part-time course in remedial massage and set up a business for clients across the North West.

In quick succession she then trained in a number of diverse specialisms - pilates instructor, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Hopi Ear Candles and the Lebed Method, a dance therapy for those suffering from breast cancer.

Soon she was working part-time as an occupational therapist in a medium secure unit whilst also running her own complementary therapy business in all of the above specialisms  She had plans to run her business from the island of Corfu, where she and her husband had bought a house, when illness struck.

In April 2009 she fell victim to an infection that led to a physical collapse from which she never recovered. She died the following month aged just 59.

Chris' partner Des Hope, who works as a careers adviser at Edge Hill University, said:

"Chris would be delighted and honoured that this Prize was set up in her memory. I am sure that her story will not only touch the hearts of many students but will encourage those who come up against significant hurdles on the road to success. Chris was a very spiritual person and although she didn't belong to any denomination, she drew her values and beliefs from an eclectic mix that included the Quakers and Buddhism. On the wall of her study she displayed the following words of the Dalai Lama which sum up her courage, determination and fighting spirit. These were read out at her funeral."

No matter what is going on
Never give up
Develop the heart
Too much energy in your country
Is spent developing the mind
Instead of the heart
Be compassionate
Not just to your friends
But to everyone
Be compassionate
Work for peace
In your heart and in the world
Work for peace
And I say again
Never give up
No matter what is going on around you
Never give up