Over £57,500 has been raised so far through the Midnight Walk, which saw participants don head boppers and light up the night with an 11km walk from Redcar to Marske and back – and sponsorship money is still coming in, with the total set to rise further.
The Midnight Walk is one of Teesside Hospice’s largest events, with hundreds taking part year on year. The event helps to generate vital income for the hospice, which supports around 4,000 people annually with its services.
The hospice, which is based on Northgate Road in Middlesbrough, helps people of Teesside live as well as possible for as long as possible through its In-Patient, Wellbeing, Bereavement Counselling and Lymphoedema services.
Tilly Roberts, Community and Events Manager at Teesside Hospice said: “We’re so grateful to everyone involved in our Midnight Walk, from those who participated to the staff, volunteers and supporters who made it happen.
“It costs £18,500 every day to run our services and we receive less than 30% of that from statutory funding, meaning we rely on events like the Midnight Walk to ensure we can deliver these services and meet demand across Teesside.”
Many of the participants taking part in the Midnight Walk were doing so in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us, including Steph Murray, who walked in memory of her brother Andrew.
Andrew, who worked at Middlesbrough-based Cleveland Cable with Steph, sadly passed away at Teesside Hospice in November.
Steph said: “The whole event from start to finish was just amazing. Seeing all the boppers along the way felt magical knowing that we were all there for the same reason, that being remembering our loved ones we have lost.”
“Not only that but being a part of raising vital funds for Teesside Hospice, which wouldn’t be able to continue helping families and doing the amazing work of looking after our loved ones during treatment and in their final days without this support.”
Tilly added: “By taking part in events like our Midnight Walk, our supporters have made a huge impact on the care, compassion and dignity we can provide to families across Teesside – thank you.
“We’d also like to say a huge thank you to Redcar and Cleveland College; Prestons of Potto; Sacred Heart; Embers Fitness; Raynet, our DJ Alastair Reay; volunteers from Amazon; QFS, On A Roll and Dominos Pizza for refreshments; and Medics UK, who all helped us deliver the event.”
To find out more about Teesside Hospice and its upcoming events, visit www.teessidehospice.org.
