Woodlands Hospice host an annual sponsored walk where many people come together and raise funds for the hospice and its services. The Light up the Night event could not take place in the same way as usual this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and therefore the hospice fundraising team had to get creative! They challenged supporters to take part in a month long ‘virtual’ event instead.
The challenge was set throughout November when supporters were encouraged to set their own route, distance and time frames to complete their very own sponsored walk within their household bubbles. The hospice team also hosted their own ‘virtual’ walk on Saturday 14th November which streamed live on Facebook and featured various members of the hospice team highlighting the importance of support through fundraising for the services at Woodlands Hospice and touched upon how they had managed through the past few challenging months.
Many individuals, groups and local businesses, including Cobalt Housing, rallied round to support the virtual event. One such group to continue their support this year was the family of William Baldwin. William’s family have been supporting Woodlands Hospice in William’s memory for the past 9 years, including taking part in the annual sponsored walk and this year was to be no exception!
Rachel Bird, William’s Granddaughter, described how they did it and why it was so important to them.
“We started our route from my Nan’s flat in Blundellsands and walked from there along the front in Crosby to the baths and back again. There were 7 of us taking part in Liverpool so we all had to socially distance on our route but it was lovely to start off at Nan’s and finish there as it made her feel part of it, especially with it being in memory of Grandad and the connection to Woodlands Hospice. We all gave Nan our medals so she could give them to us at the end of the walk which was really special.”
Rachel’s Aunties, Susan and Angela also took part along with her cousins Emma, Lisa, Jenny and Nicola. Rachel’s mum, Carol, and niece, Elsie, also took part with a family friend, Tracey, despite living in Sussex.
“The virtual event meant that my mum and niece could still take part with us too, they did their walk at the same time all the way in Sussex so it was a real family affair. All the girls of the family did the walking and we got all the boys to donate!”
The family managed to raise an incredible £2,232.00 after the funds they raised through sponsorship received match funding via Crossfield Construction and their managing director, David Cain who is also William’s grandson.
Rachel added, “As a family, we’re all so grateful to Woodlands Hospice, not only for what they did for our Grandad but for the support they’ve given Nan. It has given us peace of mind knowing that Nan was O.K after losing Grandad and for that reason we’ll continue supporting Woodlands Hospice in whatever way we can!”
Thank you to all who took part in our virtual walk!