In our Hospiscare Heroes blog this week, we are sending out a very special thank you to everyone who made Men’s Walk – Your Way such an amazing event.
The pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives but it hasn’t changed the determination of our community to support our local charity in delivering end-of-life care to those who need it most.
On Saturday 20 March, 630 people took part in Men’s Walk – Your Way to raise vital funds for Hospiscare. As Men’s Walk couldn’t take place in its normal format this year due to the current lockdown, our team delivered all of the event favourites in a box: a bottle of special Men’s Walk tenth anniversary beer from Exeter Brewery, a pasty from Chunk of Devon and a Men’s Walk t-shirt and beanie. Every single walker received a special Men’s Walk box, kindly delivered by DPD at no cost to our local charity.
We have been overwhelmed by the amazing support our community has shown Men’s Walk in its new format. We are sending a huge thank you to each and every one of our 630 Men’s Walkers, and to their families and friends for supporting them and donating to their fundraising. Although our walkers had to take part in groups miles apart, together they raised a phenomenal £87,833 to support end-of-life care in the heart of Devon.
Our supporters took us at our word when we said anyone can take part; from canine friends to our youngest ever Men’s ‘walker’ who seems to have taken part from his pram, our community really came through to support our patients and their families.
We would also like to thank Wilkinson Grant for sponsoring Men’s Walk in its tenth anniversary year. The event would not have been possible without their support.
Owner and MD of Exeter Brewery, Alan Collyer, holding the special Men’s Walk tenth anniversary beer
We are so grateful to Alan Collyer and the team at Exeter Brewery for working so hard to create a special Men’s Walk anniversary beer that could be bottled and safely distributed to our walkers, all at no cost to our local charity. The event just would not have been the same without a pint and Alan and the team made this happen.
Thank you also to Chunk of Devon for providing their delicious pasties to fuel our Men’s Walkers, or to reward them at the end of their walks. Finishing Men’s Walk with a Chunk pasty is a much-loved tradition and we couldn’t have imagined our tenth anniversary event without it.
We absolutely loved seeing one of our Men’s Walkers re-create his iconic pasty shot from last year – thank you for making us smile!
We are also sending our thanks to Bradfords Building Supplies in Axminster and Seaton who both donated a bucket hamper full of tools for our Men’s Walk raffle.
Most of our Men’s Walkers completed their routes on 20 March but Ottery postman, Steve Pearcy, decided to go one step further than fitting his walk into one day. Over the course of a week, Steve extended his usual postal route to reach his 100 mile target on Saturday 20 March.
Steve wanted to give something back to our local charity after we cared for his wife and supported his family after her death. Steve raised £6,404, making him the top fundraiser for the event. Steve says, “I was blown away by the generosity of my family, friends and customers from my postal rounds. I had no idea how good the response would be. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored me, and also to my son and daughter, Aidan and Lauren, for helping and encouraging me.”
We would also like to congratulate our sweepstakes winner, Chris (pictured left). Chris took part in Men’s Walk on his fiftieth birthday and used his big birthday to make his guess of 50. We are really grateful that Chris decided to take part in Men’s Walk on his birthday and we hope he enjoys his sweepstakes prize!
Our tenth anniversary Men’s Walk was a truly special event and we are so grateful to everyone who made it such a special day.
We love hearing your stories about how your are fundraising for Hospiscare so please get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter to share your photos and fundraising tales.
