Nocturnal Southern Electric volunteers stayed up all night to help support the Rowan Hospice’s annual fundraising “Moonlit Memories Walk” in Hampshire.
The volunteers, a mix of employees from Southern Electric's IT and Metering teams, helped out with registration, distributed T-shirts, goodie bags and food, acted as Marshals and supported walkers along the 12 mile route, handing out water to walkers along the route.
Gale-force winds and heavy rain didn’t get in the way as 1,500 walkers took part in the night-time event which started at 9.30pm and finished at 4am.
The Rowan Hospice is a local charity dedicated to improving the lives of people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. Since 1994, it has helped more than 7,000 patients and families across Portsmouth and South East Hampshire. Hospices receive no government funding and rely solely on fundraising and donations to provide their vital services, and the Rowan Hospice needs £4.8 million this year to continue its work.
With that in mind, it organised a sponsored walk in June and urgently requested volunteers to help in a variety of ways. 28 employees from Southern Electric's Havant office “stepped-in” to avoid the event being cancelled.
Laura Saunders, one of the volunteers, said:"The Rowan Hospice is a charity that I passionately believe deserves all the help it can get as it is such a worthy cause. The community day was a challenge given the weather but seeing how devoted everyone was to the cause made it easier and encouraged us to help motivate them. Next year I will certainly be doing the walk."
The event raised £130,000.
Picture shows a selection of the volunteers who helped make the Rowan Hospice’s Moonlit Walk a success.