Pink ladies shine on walk with the stars
Charity ramble raises massive £104,000 for hospice beds
(The Gazette 11/7/2007)
by Louisa Felton

DRESSED TO IMPRESS: Above and below star walkers dressed in shocking pink for their overnight fundraiser.

A Staggering £104,000 was raised for the Hospice of St Francis on Saturday after 800 women dressed in hot pink pounded the streets of Dacorum.
Organisers of Walk with the Stars had hoped to scrape together £50,000 from the 12-mile sponsored midnight walk to help buy a new bed for the hospice in Berkhamsted, but they have far surpassed their goal and are still waiting for the last bits of sponsorship money to come in.

The sea of pink, women in colourful shirts, trainers and lipstick, set off from Hemel Hempstead Sportspace after warming up with a personal trainer.
Footballing brothers Tommy Smith, from Watford FC and Jack Smith, who plays for Swindon and Tottenham Hotspurs' goal keeping coach, Hans Segers, gave encouragement at the off.
Their route was to Berkhamsted Sportspace and back and from the youngest walker, at just 12, right up to the oldest at 74 spirits were high. Even a seven-months-pregnant women at the back of the pack enjoyed the stroll.
As the hordes of tired fundraisers made it back to Hemel Hempstead warm bacon butties with tea and coffee were waiting for them.

One walker, Liz Richards, said she was still buzzing at six o'clock in the morning: "It was totally exhilarating. Afterwards I had so many images of the evening going through my mind and the adrenaline kept me going. It was truly amazing."
At the end of last month The Gazette reported on Sonia Waterton, a 74-year-old blind women who struggles with her balance. She was unable to do the walk, but pledged to use an exercise bike and cycle for five hours.
After the gruelling night of stationary riding (she also began at midnight), two adjudicators were able to confirm that she reached her target.

Director of fundraising at the hospice, Sarah Thompson, said: "I am really delighted to say that Saturday's Walk with the Stars was a huge success. The evening went so smoothly, mainly due to the fantastic organisation.Sarah thanked the staff, walkers and the many local businesses that got involved and helped make it such a special event.

She said: "Congratulations to Fran Martin for pulling the whole thing together in just under three months. Many will not have seen the effort behind the scenes from Fran and the fundraising team; from organising Raynet (a radio/walkie-talkie organisation keeping us all in touch) and St John's Ambulance, to the mountains of paperwork with information on walkers, organising 50 plus marshals along the route, keeping people fed and watered, delivering pallets of water and bananas, organising sponsors to get the costs covered. As the first event of this kind we have ever organised, it went so very well."

Despite sore legs and blisters, hundreds of the women have already said they want to sign up for next year's Walk With the Stars which looks like being even bigger.

A bed equipped with all of the care needed for a patient costs £85,000. The money raised by the walkers will be used to open a tenth bed and the left over cash will go towards opening more beds.