Hospital-to-hospital walk organisers named as charity’s fundraisers of the year

Nick Holding and Sally Hodson, both from the Continuous Improvement Team at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, collected a trophy and certificate from the charity last week on behalf of the Walk to Work Team, which organised the Great Walk to Work.

The walk was the brainchild of Nick who, along with Sally, set up the Walk to Work Team to organise the event which proved a massive success when it was held in May this year with about 130 people walking from the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH). The walk raised £9,864.28 - almost double the £5,000 fundraising target - to support the Lingen Davies appeal to buy furniture for the new Lingen Davies Cancer Centre at RSH.

Louise Cliffe, Fundraising Manager at Lingen Davies, said: "I would like to thank Nick, Sally and the team for organising this wonderful event and all the participants for raising such a huge amount for the Charity. We are very grateful to them all for their efforts, thank you."

The pair have now turned their attention to a second hospital-to-hospital walk which will take place on 10 May 2013.

The walk, From Here to Maternity, will begin at RSH and end at PRH and will raise money for the Caring for our Future appeal launched by Telford & Wrekin Mayor Councillor Kevin Guy earlier this year. The appeal is raising money for a fun, learning environment, and hi-tech facilities at the new Women and Children's Unit which will open at PRH in 2014.

The appeal is focusing on supporting young patients to "thrive, learn and play" and the environment could include a special garden room and an internal classroom for the unit, which will provide state of the art health facilities for women and children across Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire and mid Wales.

Nick, an Improvement Manager at the Trust, said he felt honoured to have received the award from Lingen Davies.

He said: “The first walk was fantastic and was extremely well received by everyone who took part. Lots of people took it to their hearts and had a really fun time. We wanted to raise money for a charity that would also support the hospital and felt the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund would be an excellent choice.

“We were delighted to have raised double our fundraising target and it’s clear it has gone to a good cause as since the Cancer Centre opened at RSH earlier this year it has been extremely well received.

“To have been named as Lingen Davies’ Fundraisers of the Year is a real honour and while we feel a sense of pride, it’s important to recognise that more than 100 people helped to raise around £10,000 by taking part in the walk and it was a real team effort.”

And he is delighted with how the preparation is going for next year’s walk with more than 100 people already signed up – five months before it will take place.

“Interest in next year’s walk has been great so far and to have more than 100 people already signed up is a fantastic achievement. But there’s still plenty of time to sign up for what should be a memorable occasion in support of another worthy cause,” added Nick.

The walk is free to attend and people are asked to raise what they can for the appeal.

Plans are being drawn up for events to take place at the start and end of the walk, possibly a coffee morning and summer fair.

To sign up, pledge donations, offer to volunteer to help on the day, or for more information, call Nick on (01952) 641222 Ext 4272 or (01743) 261000 Ext 2415, email nick.holding@sath.nhs.uk or search for From Here to Maternity on Facebook.