St Helena Hospice’s Midnight Walk, sponsored by Fenwick Colchester, took the enthusiastic participants around the streets of Colchester with volunteer marshals guiding their way with giant glow sticks, on Friday 27th September into early hours Saturday 28th September.

The charity walk started at the JobServe Community Stadium, where the event village, sponsored by Matthew Douglas, was in full party atmosphere complete with DJ, mass karaoke and musical performances from Harwich Sings and Alice Pescott-Frost.

Stilt walkers and jugglers from Infinity Circus moved among the neon-glowing crowds, while some people braved a glass or Lego walk ahead of the event.

Dr Karen Chumbley, chief clinical officer at St Helena Hospice, thanked the crowd for taking part and for raising vital funds to support people across north east Essex who face incurable illness and bereavement. 

The crowd cheered after watching a good luck message from Viv Ashley, a patient cared for by St Helena Hospice.

Walkers warmed-up to an energetic Clubbercise routine led by Toni Wilson, before Olympian Charlie Dobson counted down the walkers to set them off on their 9 mile or 4 mile route, led down United Way by an open-top Porsche with the St Helena mascot, Saunders, waving from the back seat.

People walked with family, friends or colleagues or on their own making friends along the way. Some walked for fun while others, like Charlotte Bragg, walked to remember loved ones. Charlotte said: 

“The Hospice cared for both my mum and dad and supported our family as well, so they are just incredible people and the Hospice is an incredible place; we can’t thank them enough.”

Marcus Poston, partnerships fundraising manager at St Helena Hospice, said:

“A massive thank you to everyone who joined us for Midnight Walk; you were all amazing and what a fantastic atmosphere!

“It was great to see so many people having fun with big smiles on their faces, enjoying the entertainment and fantastic performances from Harwich Sings and Alice Pescott-Frost, before walking for miles to raise much needed funds to help the people in our community in need of support from St Helena.

“Our thanks go also to the brilliant volunteers both at the Stadium and marshalling out on the routes to guide and keep the walkers in high spirits. 

“And we are so grateful to our event sponsor, Fenwick Colchester, and event village sponsor, Matthew Douglas, who also had teams taking part in the walk.

“We hope to see even more people at the Midnight Walk next year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of St Helena Hospice, where the theme will be the 1980s to take us back to the time when local hospice care started!”

People can register their interest in Midnight Walk 2025 at www.sthelena.org.uk/mw25