Ears At The Ready!
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices’ Social Worker, Caroline Hodgson, is one of the charity’s Midnight Walk ‘hospice heroes’. She has persuaded wife Gemma and friends Anthea Cooke and Nicky Bateman to walk the Midnight Walk course as a team of four in support of the hospices for the first time.
Sponsored by Trident Honda as part of their major three-year commitment to the hospices, building on 21 years of corporate support, the ladies-only walk will leave Woking Leisure Centre at 10pm (after registration from 8pm) on Friday 19 May.
Participants will follow an 8-mile route back to the leisure centre, wearing a pink superhero cape to tie in with the event’s theme of ‘hospice hero’, plus the now-traditional bunny ears!
Woking resident Caroline said, ‘I started working with the hospices last August and I am passionate about supporting the work we do. I’m not very sporty; I think I last did a long walk as a teenager! I had already started doing the ‘couch to 5k’ challenge and then decided that the Midnight Walk would be a great target to aim for. I’m also thinking about running the hospices’ Santa Fun run later in the year. As a Midnight Walk team we hope to raise £500; everyone has been very generous so we have already raised two thirds of that target. If anyone would like to support us they can donate by text on MIDW96 £3 70070. We’re all looking forward to the walk as it will be a fantastic atmosphere and a lot of fun to take part!’
Caroline is the hospices’ only Social Worker. This new role for the charity aims to support patients and their families across a range of areas, including accessing the right benefits, giving support on financial issues, and providing a listening ear at a time when things can be overwhelming. Caroline is also able to offer a non-medical perspective, which supports the hospices’ aim of providing a holistic approach to end-of-life care and support for families, including complementary therapies, counselling and physiotherapy.
Caroline said: ‘I work closely with colleagues in other areas, for example our counselling team, to make sure that patients and their families are put in touch with the right sort of support and expertise at the time they need it. It can be a very confusing and exhausting time and there is so much to think about. Having someone to act as a listening ear and an advocate to help patients and families to navigate their way through all sorts of concerns and practical issues can make a big difference. I often visit patients in their homes, as well as meeting with people in the hospice, and I think having the time to offer that emotional support and let people talk through issues that are concerning them is vital to their well-being.’
Also sponsored by Freedom Leisure, the Midnight Walk event is in its 10th year, and Woking & Sam Beare Hospices is aiming to recruit 1,000 walkers aged 11 and above (walkers aged under 18 must be accompanied by an adult).
Funds raised will go towards the charity’s new 20 bedroom hospice in Woking’s Goldsworth Park, which will provide en-suite accommodation and state-of-the-art equipment alongside extensive daycare facilities and a café which will be open to members of the public.
If you would like to find out more and sign up for the Midnight Walk please visit www.wsb-midnightwalk.co.uk and secure your free event T-shirt and supporters pack.
Event sponsors Freedom Leisure are also offering a free day pass and discounts on activities prior to the event, and a warm-up session with their trainers on the night to get everybody raring to go! Registration is £15 per person. Join Woking & Sam Beare Hospices for a night out to remember!
To give you an idea of what to expect, re-live the magic of our Midnight Walk 2015 in the video above & photo below. More than 720 women of all ages took on the 8 mile circular route from Mercedes-Benz World (Brooklands Weybridge) at 10am and our new neon theme meant they all lite up the dark like never before. We’ll done ladies, you were glowingly gorgeous!
Owliver Awards!
Inspired by our Midnight Walk mascot ‘Owliver’, we launched these fun awards to encourage everyone with their fundraising!
Best Dressed Ladies
For the team in the most SUPER Hospice Hero outfits and accessories for the Walk, we’re thinking lots of bright, colourful lycra! And you can purchase your pink, WSB cape when you register or on the night!
Fundraising Fanatics
The team of ladies who raise the most sponsorship for Woking & Sam Beare Hospices will be crowned our Midnight Walk Fundraising Fanatics of 2016. Make sure we’ve received all your sponsorship by Friday 15th July.
Sponsorship Superstar
The individual who has what it takes to raise the most will be in with the chance of shining like a superstar with this award. Make sure we’ve received all your sponsorship by Friday 15th July.
Going the Extra Mile
There are many individuals whose participation in the Midnight Walk is inspirational. They may have overcome an injury, be taking part whilst dealing with an illness or bereavement, or in some other way shown extraordinary efforts to take part and fundraise for the Hospices. If you know someone you believe should be nominated for this year’s Midnight Walk award, please let us know by emailing midnightwalk@wsbhospices.co.uk by Sunday 15th May with the subject ‘My Going the Extra Mile Nomination’. Please include the name of who you’re nominating, and why you’re nominating them.
Health Benefits From The Midnight Walk
Joining Woking & Sam Beare Hospices’ ladies-only 8-mile Midnight Walk – sponsored by Trident Honda and Freedom Leisure – on Friday 19 May is a great chance to raise your own health levels while you raise funds for the hospices.
Jackie Waite, Studio Co-ordinator and Exercise Referral Instructor at Freedom Leisure at Woking Leisure Centre, has highlighted some of the health benefits of walking for participants:
* Improves cardio vascular fitness and health.
* Can help to maintain bone density and prevent against osteoporosis.
* Increases calorie expenditure aiding in weight management.
* Can help to de-stress and improve psychological well-being.
Freedom Leisure Support
When & Where
The Midnight Walk 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.
Date: Friday 19th May 2017
Where: Woking Leisure Centre
Woking Park,
Kingfield Rd, Woking
Surrey GU22 9BA
About Woking & Sam Beare Hospices
- We deliver 8,760 hours of care and support each year
- Our team of specialist healthcare professionals care for our patients 24 hours per day, seven days per week
- We care for approximately 2,000 patients each year
- Over 70% of our care is delivered in patient homes or care or nursing homes
- We receive referrals from Spelthorne, West Elmbridge, Woking, North Guildford, Surrey Heath and Runnymede but we can take patients outside of our region if required
- We are specialists in care for patients with advanced progressive complex needs
- We care for patients with, for example, advance dementia, heart disease, cancer, degenerative conditions and kidney disease
- We care for adults of all ages [18 – 85+]
- Our services are completely FREE of charge
- We offer support services for carers and family members
- We provide child and teenage bereavement counselling
- Our Wellbeing Centre offers a range of treatments and therapies
- We have 816 fabulous volunteers, without whom we could not deliver all that we do
- We work closely with GPs and other clinicians to share knowledge and expertise
- For every £5 of costs incurred we need to raise £4 from voluntary income
- We need to raise in excess of £8 million a year to continue to deliver our services
Woking & Sam Beare Hospices 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. Each year we care for over 2000 patients, their families and carers both in our hospice and 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.
For more information about Woking & Sam Beare Hospices please see the Woking & Sam Beare Hospices page
Woking and Sam Beare Hospices are independent charities dedicated to providing specialised end of life care and support to local people, their families and carers. Registered charity number for Woking Hospice: 1082798. Registered charity number for Sam Beare Hospice: 1115439.
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.