Published on: Thursday 02 Mar 2017 at 17:47
St Clare Hospice’s eleventh annual Winter Walkies sets tails wagging!
From Pugs to Poodles, and Labradors to Lurchers, more than 100 dogs of all shapes and sizes joined St Clare Hospice’s annual pooch parade when we hosted our ever-popular Winter Walkies event on Sunday (26 February).
At the head of the pack was the winner of the Hospice’s Cutest Canine competition, perfect Poppy, who led a record-breaking 350 walkers out the gates of the Hospice for the sponsored 5km countryside stroll. This year’s Winter Walkies fundraising event is expected to raise over £5,000 for St Clare once all sponsorship money has been received.
There were plenty of wagging tails as the pets and their owners set off at 11.00am, making their way down into Hastingwood and across the beautiful Essex countryside.
The event organiser, St Clare Community Fundraiser Lead, Dani De’ath said: “This was the eleventh year that we have organised Winter Walkies and it gets more and more popular every year, this time attracting a record number of dogs and their owners. It really was a sight to see so many happy wagging tails held aloft as all the dogs set off out the Hospice gate. It was wonderful to hear such positive comments from those who took part saying what a lovely atmosphere there was among their fellow dog lovers.”
Dani continued: “It was a privilege to organise such a lovely event and to see so many people from our local community joining forces to help raise money and awareness for their local hospice. We’d like to thank everyone who came along or supported the event, helping us raise much-needed funds so we can provide our skilled and compassionate care to every local family who needs us – and we look forward to setting the bar even higher for next year!”
This year’s event was kindly sponsored by Forest Veterinary Centre of Epping.
