Hospice Nurses Take On 47 Mile Fundraiser

A small team of Hospice Nurses have set themselves a large challenge - to walk 47 miles over 5 days. The nurses from St Cuthbert’s Hospice, Durham, hope to not only raise vital funds for the charity, but also to raise awareness of the care they provide.

Setting off on Thursday, September 10th, the route will follow much of the ‘Way of Light Walk’ part of the Northern Saints Trails, from Heavenfield to Durham Cathedral. A final stretch has been added to take the walkers from the Cathedral to the doors of St Cuthbert’s Hospice as a fitting finishing point.

Three nurses will complete the whole walk, while others will join for a day or two due to needing to work shifts at the Hospice and provide the compassionate care the team are so proud to deliver.

Staff Nurse, Steph Hall, who has organised the walk and recce the route along with colleagues, said: “It will be lovely to have other members of the team join us for some of the walk. It’s a bit like passing the baton, having some of our care colleagues join us. Of course, we need to make sure there are enough nurses covering the care at the Hospice, or I think more would have joined in, too. Staff and volunteers from all departments of the Hospice are joining too, so on some days there may be a little team of us hiking together.”

“Some days will be harder than others, with the shortest walking day covering around 5 miles and the longest covering 13 miles. We wanted to set ourselves a challenge to help raise some much-needed funds for the Hospice. We’ve been through a really tough time losing many of our colleagues in the devastating redundancies earlier this year. We need support from the public now more than ever.”

Steph adds, “It’s important that people know we are still here, we’re still caring 24/7 365 days a year for people in County Durham. It’s a genuine privilege to be there for people and their families at the most difficult time. We can only provide the special care that we do thanks to many kind people doing fundraisers themselves and generous donations.”

To sponsor the team, visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/st-cuthberts-way-of-light