Midnight Walk 2010

Durham's biggest and best charity girls' night out returned for a fourth year, on Saturday 19th June 2010.

More than 800 women gathered for a Midsummer night out on Saturday evening, at the St Cuthbert’s Hospice Midnight Walk.

Participants pledged an incredible £80,000 of sponsorship for the local charity, which provides care and support free of charge to people with life-limiting conditions in North Durham.

“The Midnight Walk has been an incredible Saturday night out, without the heels and hangovers,” said Elenor Maddison, a part-time secretary from Belmont, taking part with eight of her friends. “There’s a really special atmosphere and camaraderie amongst the women, and it is a joy to be a part of something that makes such a difference to our local community.”

Since it was introduced in 2007, the St Cuthbert’s Hospice Midnight Walk has grown each year into a mammoth fundraiser for North Durham’s local hospice. This year, the 10km Midnight Walk has been a record-breaking year for the fourth year running, beating last year’s total of £75,000 towards the hospice’s care services.

“There’s such a melting pot of women here tonight, coming together for their local hospice,” said Diane Laudar, walking with colleagues from the Peases West Primary School. “Looking around, there are mums and daughters, sisters, neighbours, colleagues, old friends and new; most of whom have been affected by a terminal illness or a hospice in some way. Everyone here just wants to make a difference and have a great night out.”

The atmosphere was carivalesque as women were entertained with performances from a fire performer and the North Tyneside Steel Band, before a special disco aerobics session to warm them up for the 10km trek. Denise Robertson, TV agony aunt, set the walkers off at the stroke of midnight saying, “You have no idea what a marvelous and moving sight you are!”, as she looked upon the sea of flashing bunny ears and tiaras.

Floating lanterns were released into the starry skies throughout the evening, as a tribute to the ‘Midnight Memories’ of participants.

First to complete the route were teenage cousins Holly Marland, 13, from Ushaw Moor and Abigail Winn, 14, from Consett, who were taking part with their mums.

“The Midnight Walk has brought together people of so many different ages,” said the girls. “It’s so much fun to come together, just the girls – we’ve really bonded with each other and with new friends too. It’s made us feel confident.”

“It looks like the ladies have raised an astonishing £80,000 in one night, which is an incredible achievement and the ultimate example of Girl Power,” said Rachel Jobson of St Cuthbert’s Hospice, who organized the event. “If everyone returns the amount of sponsorship that they have pledged, we will have raised enough to fund more than 500 attendances at the Day Hospice, or over 200 overnight stays in our In-Patient Unit.”

“I would also like to sincerely thank our army of volunteers and our fantastic sponsors – Sunderland Marine, Premier Waste and Swinburne Maddison, without whom the Midnight Walk simply could not happen.”