Jessica Walker-Wragg (33) lives in Manchester now, but her roots – and her heart – remain firmly in Derbyshire. A food writer and PR director, Jessica is the daughter of Jill Wragg, a mother she remembers as “truly, truly good – to the very bone.” 

Jill was born and raised in Clay Cross. Playful, fiercely loving, with a wicked sense of humour, she “lived to make other people happy” and “always put everyone else first,” Jessica recalls. 

In October 2020, Jill was diagnosed with gynaecological cancer. After surgery, the family hoped for more time, but by April 2021, the cancer had spread and her diagnosis was terminal. Jill died later that year, aged 65. 

“It shattered us,” Jessica reflects. “She was the centre of our little unit – my dad and I were just in her orbit. Knowing we had a finite amount of time left with her broke us. Knowing she was going to be in pain was even worse.” 

In those final months, Jessica and her dad were closest to Jill, navigating something they had never experienced before. “We had no idea what we were doing. We were living trauma, day by day.”

Through support from Ashgate’s Palliative Care Specialist Nurses, Jill was helped to manage her pain at home – and Jessica and her dad were supported too. “My mum and dad knew the names of the people caring for her, and they knew hers. They never made her feel scared or unsure. When my dad phoned for advice, he was met with kindness and reassurance. I honestly don’t know how we would have coped without them.” 

One moment has stayed with her ever since: “I remember the voice of the woman my dad spoke to on the phone. I remember telling her my mum had died, and how sorry she was. She didn’t feel like a nurse – she felt like someone who had known my mum when she was alive.” 

When Jessica thinks of her mum now, it’s the small things that come back. “Her laugh – she saved it for only the funniest jokes. And her smell. I can still smell her hair sometimes.” 

Grief, she says, makes it hard to remember anything beyond the end. “It takes real effort to think further back than the bad times. But I get flashes – little moments, sounds, feelings. And I remember the last hug I had with her, when she was still able to stand. I can still feel it.”

Her experience changed how she sees hospice care. “It’s a necessity that we so often overlook. So many of us will know someone who needs this care, yet funding doesn’t reflect that. People deserve to die with dignity and comfort. Ashgate gave us a beacon of support. They were our guide, helping us understand that we were doing the right thing.” 

Because of the care her family received, Jessica wanted to give back – so other families could have that support too. “I work in food. I was a butcher for 13 years, and I know chefs and restaurants across the region. Ashgate is a charity so many of us in North Derbyshire have grown up knowing about. I knew I wanted to give something back.” 

That’s what led to the two-night steakhouse fundraiser at The Tickled Trout in Barlow on 25 and 26 February. Jessica is working alongside Chef Patron Chris Mapp and the pub’s team to transform the private dining room into a vintage steakhouse. Guests will be welcomed with a cocktail before enjoying a three-course dinner centred around award-winning steak, with all proceeds going to Ashgate Hospice. Across both nights, a charity auction will also take place, featuring prizes from some of the UK’s best-known chefs and restaurants. 

For Jessica, the event is about more than good food. “This is a way of bringing people together, remembering my mum, and raising funds for a hospice that supported my family when we needed it most. My mum’s death was incredibly unfair. It still feels that way. Doing something like this helps us grieve in a proactive way, while supporting an incredible and necessary charity.” 

She hopes it will give others access to the same support her family relied on. “Ashgate gives people peace, dignity and comfort. So many more people deserve that.” 

And if Jill could see it all? Jessica laughs. “She’d be embarrassed. She hated attention. But it’s important to me to keep talking about her. She was the kind of person who only comes around once in a lifetime. She impacted more people than she ever knew – and I hope this fundraiser means her memory will impact many more.”