A walk of remembrance

On 7th July 2007, together with her two daughters, Samantha and Tanya and a few other ladies, Anne Marie Carr, 57, from Chesham, took to the streets of Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted and joined in the women-only ‘Walk with the Stars’ midnight walk in aid of The Hospice of St Francis.

Anne Marie wanted to do something to celebrate the life of her dear sister-in-law Shirley, who was cared for, and died at The Hospice of St Francis in 2007. Anne Marie says “Shirley’s last wish was to end her life at the Hospice and we take some comfort that this was made possible for her.

So ‘Shirl’s Girls’, in their bright pink T-shirts, joined the other 800 ladies and helped the Hospice raise over £110,000 in one night!

“It was an amazing night”, says Anne Marie, “Everywhere you looked you could see pink ladies. The atmosphere along the route was electric. We chatted and laughed all the way - we did try and keep the noise to a minimum when walking along residential areas though”, she added “Our faces lit up even more at the half way point when we were each given water and a bar of Cadbury’s Chocolate, that was most welcome! It didn’t feel like midnight at all and we were back before we knew it. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

‘Shirl’s Girls’ raised over £2,000, this would supply the medicines needed for one in-patient bed for a year, allowing The Hospice of St Francis to continue to provide care for more patients like Shirley, with a life-limiting or terminal illness.

‘Shirl’s Girls’ didn’t think twice about re-registering for this years walk.
“The Hospice needs funds to keep going and we will do anything to help”, says Anne Marie, “I urge all local women to take part. Not only is it great fun but you will also be making a huge difference”

Finally she adds, “Shirley would have been so proud of us. She was the most bubbly person you could ever meet, she would have loved to have walked with us, it was just the sort of thing she would have done”.