A grieving widow whose husband was cared for by St Elizabeth Hospice has made a poignant call for more women to take part in the Midnight Walk.
Sue Evans’ husband Roy was cared for on the inpatient unit in Foxhall Road, Ipswich, for 15 weeks before he passed away aged 53 in April.
The couple have two grown-up children.
Mrs Evans, who lives near Wickham Market, pledged to take part in the women-only sponsored night-time circular walk before her husband, who ran his own construction firm, died. His funeral was on Thursday 3rd May.
She is standing by her decision, and has already raised more than £1,500 in sponsorship. She today is urging others to sign up before online registration closes on Friday 11th May at 5pm.
So far 1,300 women have signed up for the Midnight Walk, St Elizabeth Hospice’s biggest fundraising event of the year, which starts at Ipswich Town Football Club on Saturday 19th May.
Mrs Evans, who is a wedding photographer, said she wanted to show her appreciation to all the staff at the Hospice by raising as much money as she possibly can so other people can benefit from the Hospice’s services.
She visited Roy every day while he was cared for on the inpatient unit and was by his bedside as much as possible.
She said: “Raising money for the Hospice, and knowing that I’m doing the Midnight Walk, helps to keep me focused, and I really do want to put something back into the Hospice after all the help they’ve given my family and I.
“I’m very much looking forward to it. It will be a good atmosphere there, there’s good camaraderie in any event like this where there’s lots of people taking part for the same cause.
“I would encourage everyone to sign up to do the Midnight Walk because the Hospice can end up touching so many people’s lives, you never know who it’s going to affect in your family and who is going to need such brilliant care at the end of someone’s life, so I think it’s something we should always be thinking towards to do whatever we can to help organisations like St Elizabeth Hospice.”
St Elizabeth Hospice costs £6.6m a year to fun and relies on the generosity of the community to meet the majority of these costs, via donations and fundraising.
Mrs Evans set up a JustGiving page with a target to raise £1,000 which she has exceeded and it currently stands at more than £1,500.
If you would like to sponsor Mrs Evans visit www.justgiving.com/Sue-Evans13
To sign up for St Elizabeth Hospice’s Midnight Walk click here by Friday 11th May at 5pm.