Making Memories Glow at our Shining Stars Walk
On Saturday, 21 September, we held our very first Shining Stars Walk. For the first time, we merged our two popular in-memory walks, Moonlit and Starlit, to create a bigger and more family-friendly event.
We were delighted to welcome 498 participants for a memorable evening, walking in memory of loved ones or simply to support the vital work of the Hospice.
Participants entering the grounds of HMS Temeraire were greeted by the rhythmic sounds of the Swan Samba Band, then had the opportunity to get glittered up, purchase a variety of glowing and light-up accessories, as well as taking fun pictures at the Cheeky Pix photobooth.
All walkers then received a warm welcome from Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson CBE, Deputy Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, and Iain Cameron, Rowans Hospice’s Chief Executive, followed by a moment of reflection led by our Spiritual Care Lead, Bryony Wildblood, inviting participants to light up their candles in memory of their loved ones.
All participants then gathered around for a Zumba warm-up, led by the energetic Jenna, to get ready to set off on their 4- or 8-mile walks through Portsmouth and Southsea.
During the walk, participants visited the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard where they had the opportunity to light up the HMS Warrior with their decorated candle bags.
The walk finished back at HMS Temeraire, where participants were congratulated with a Shining Stars Medal, a freshly grilled burger and a hot beverage.
Everyone’s efforts so far have raised over £61,354.18!
As always, we could not have done run this event without the support of our generous sponsors:
Thank you to Signal Global for sponsoring the t-shirts, A.J. Wheeler for sponsoring the medals, HMS Temeraire (HM Naval Base Portsmouth) for providing the grounds for the walks’ start and finish, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for opening HMS Warrior for the in-memory element of the walk, Cheeky Pix for providing the photobooth free of charge, L&S Waste for providing the porta-loos , Zurich for supplying volunteers and fibre optic headbands, Wellington Vale for providing brunch bars and biscuits to all the participants, Asembl. Group for providing us a van for set-up and take down, Meon Valley Lions for providing BBQ food to all participants and volunteers after the walk, and Rapid Relief Team for supplying water and biscuits for the event, IB Medical for the first aid.
Big thank you to our entertainers:
Jenna for the Zumba warm-up, Over the Rainbow for the characters, Swan Samba Band, Daron Shallows, Solent City Chorus.
As always, a big thank-you goes to all our Volunteers, including SSE, Southsea Castle Rotary and Biopure Technology and our Volunteer Photographers Vernon Nash and Bev Livermore.
Can you spot yourself?
If you would like to share your photos with us to help promote next years’ in-memory walk, please contact marketing@rowanshospice.co.uk. Thank you.
