Headline: Don your ‘hospice hero’ cape for the 10th Midnight Walk – 1000 walkers needed!
Release Date: Embargoed until 6 March
Be a ‘hospice hero’ and swish your cape for the 10th annual Woking & Sam Beare Hospice Midnight Walk on Friday 19 May, sponsored by Trident Honda!
This ladies-only event will start at 8pm with a welcome and registration session, leaving Woking Leisure Centre at 10pm and following an eight mile route back to the centre. A refreshment station will be posted halfway at the new hospice currently being built in Goldsworth Park, Woking, due to open in Spring.Freedom Leisure, which operates Woking Leisure Centre, has kindly supported the popular event by providing thevenue as well as training support for participants.
As part of the ‘hospice hero’ theme walkers can buy a bright pink ‘hero’ cape through Woking & Sam Beare Hospice. They can customise their cape at home beforehand or at a ‘pimp my cape’ stall during the welcome session at the beginning of the walk, to wear with the free event T-shirt featuring event mascot ‘Owliver’. The now-traditional bunny ears will also be available to buy at the event.
More than 900 walkers raised more than £120,000 for the charity in 2016. This year it aims to recruit 1,000 walkers to mark the hospice’s 21st year providing end-of-life care and support to more than 1,400 patients and families across North Surrey.
Funds raised by walkers will go towards the charity’s work within the hospice itself and towards the 70% of care delivered in people’s own homes. Money raised will also support the completion of a new state-of-the-art hospice, which will have 20 en-suite bedrooms, day care centre, complementary therapy and counselling facilities, and a café. It will provide a centre of excellence and resources for staff and patients alike.
Interim CEO and Director of Nursing Jayne Cooper said: ‘I’ll be walking with the members of our executive team and we’re all looking forward to an evening that will be great fun, and to talking to other walkers about why they are supporting the hospice in this way.Our theme for the Midnight Walk this year is ‘hospice heroes’ and I hope lots of ladies will be inspired to join us, as everyone who fundraises and support our charity is a hero to us! A big thank you to Trident Honda, our headline sponsors, who are supporting this fantastic event for the first time.’
Trident Honda, which has supported Woking & Sam Beare Hospice during its 21 years of providing end-of-life care, committed in 2016 to be a major sponsor for the charity over three years. Richard Roberts, Managing Director of Trident Honda said, “We have watched the Midnight Walk go from strength to strength since it started. We are delighted to be the headline sponsor for the 2017 event, helping to raise even more money for the hospice!”
Patricia Chipping completed the Midnight Walk with her granddaughter Emily, 22, last year, and she has signed up to be a hospice hero again this year. Patricia raised £2,100 for the hospice and was crowned Sponsorship Superstar, winning the award for the most funds raised singlehandedly in the 2016 event.
Patricia said: I’m a very keen Woking & Sam Beare Hospice supporter because I’ve experienced for myself during the last 20 years the difference their wonderful care makes. Both my best friend Barbara and her husband Colin received their care, and my husband Roy also passed away in the hospice. He had suffered from Alzheimer’s for 10 years before being diagnosed with lung cancer. The hospice staff put an extra bed into Roy’s room so that I could stay with him to reassure him. For me, staying on the ward was such a relief, because I knew that I didn’t have to cope by myself, and that I could always have a break knowing that Roy would be supported. I was also comforted to know that I wouldn’t be alone when he passed away.’
To find out more or to sign up for your early bird £10 Midnight Walk place (discount available until 3 April, places £15 after that date)please visit secure your free event T-shirt and supporters pack. If you would like to support the new build appeal you can also donate online through
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PHOTOCALL
The Midnight Walk event will be launched with a photocall opportunity at Woking Leisure Centre at 11am on Monday 6 March.
Participants in the launch photocall will be:
- Woking & Sam Beare Hospice’s Interim CEO and Director of Nursing Jayne Cooper and other members of the hospice’s executive team
- Headline event sponsor - Trident Honda’s Managing Director Richard Roberts
- Event sponsor - Woking Leisure Centre’s Centre Manager Jon Hames and Freedom Leisure’s Marketing Manager Trevor Cullum
- Event participants
Please contact Rachelle Barnett if you would like to attend or send a photographer.
Rachelle Barnett
PR Officer
Woking & Sam Beare Hospice
T: 01483742776 M:07843 246294
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CASE STUDY - READ PATRICIA CHIPPING’S STORY IN FULL
My first contact with hospices was when my best friend Barbara died of cancer, aged 52, in the original Sam Beare ward more than 20 years ago. The ward itself was very basic then, just eight or so beds separated by curtains, but the care was wonderful.
Sadly, in 2005 Barbara’s husband Colin stayed for three weeks in Sam Beare before passing away from bowel cancer. Colin was my husband Roy’s best friend. This time we had the comfort of knowing how well Colin would be cared for and by then the ward had also been upgraded to individual rooms.
Five years later, we were back again. Roy had already lived with Alzheimer’s for ten years when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was caring for him at home, and he needed me with him or he would become very confused and worried.
Once again Woking & Sam Beare Hospices were there for us, putting an extra bed into Roy’s room so that I could stay with him to reassure him. He had no short term memory, which in a way was a blessing because he couldn’t remember that he was so seriously ill. As he fortunately had no pain, his hospice stay was more about him being in a safe and caring environment the end of his life, where pain relief could be given quickly if it was suddenly needed.
For me, staying on the ward was such a relief, because I knew that I didn’t have to cope by myself, and that I could always have a break knowing that Roy would be supported if I needed to pop out or have a little time to myself. I was also comforted to know that I wouldn’t be alone when he passed away, that there would always be a nurse with me if my family couldn’t join us in time, although my daughter and son-in-law were there to say goodbye to Roy.
After Roy passed away I started fundraising. I work in a club in Shepperton, and my friends and colleagues there have been very generous. I raised £2,100 last year doing the Midnight Walk with my granddaughter Emily, 22. We also did the Santa Fun Run and we’re signing up for the 2017 Midnight Walk. I’m proud to be a part of supporting the charity as they have supported us.
My family know that, if it wasn’t for donations to the charity, Barbara, Colin and Roy wouldn’t have had the wonderful care that they received – and neither would we. The level of comfort, support and understanding from the staff is amazing. I still meet up once a month with a support group of others who have been helped by Woking and & Sam Beare Hospices and I feel a very strong connection to the people and the place that has helped us so much over the years.
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Rachelle Barnett
PR Officer
Woking & Sam Beare Hospice
T: 01483742776 M:07922 847494
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Woking & Sam Beare Hospice
Woking & Sam Beare Hospice is a patient-centred charity that delivers specialist palliative care to adult patients of all ages who have life-limiting and terminal illnesses. We cover the North West Surrey region, providing free of charge holistic care and support services for patients, their families and carers. We care for over 1,400 patients both in our hospice and in their own homes (where over 70% of our care is delivered), enabling patient choice and the best quality of life.
We care for adults of all ages with a wide range of life limiting conditions such as cancer, heart disease, Motor Neurone Disease (MND), chronic pulmonary conditions, Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We help patients to manage their symptoms, which are often complex and why they require the expertise of our Clinical Nurse Specialists and specialist doctors.
Our services enable us to offer our patients holistic care, which means we offer practical, emotional, social and spiritual support as well as managing their medical needs. We offer day care services where patients receive assessments, treatments and therapies, as well as emotional and spiritual support. We also deliver counselling for our patients and their families, including child bereavement services and school support programmes.
We are a charity, and while we receive some government funding, around 75% of what we deliver is funded through our charity shops and fundraising activities. We could not do this without the generosity of all of our supporters, volunteers and the local community.