Ramble for Hartlepool & District Hospice to return after success of 2015 event

Organisers of the annual three-mile ramble have told how the 2016 event will be celebrated because it will be the fifth time it has raised money for Hartlepool & District Hospice.

Tommy Miller has been one of the organisers ever since the walk in Peterlee and Castle Eden Dene first started.

He was the man behind this year’s event which has so far raised around £1,850 with even more to come in donations.

He praised everyone who took part and said: “We will big up next year’s walk with it being the fifth one for the hospice.”

Money is still pouring in for this year’s successful event which saw 35 people walk from the Hearts of Oak pub in Peterlee through Castle Eden Dene and back to the pub again.

The annual event pulled in people from throughout the area and always attracts players with a Hartlepool United connection who join fellow fundraisers.

This year, Pools favourites John Brackstone and Tommy Miller were among five stars to go on the walk. Also raising funds were the Mayor of Peterlee Mary Cartwright and five staff from Lloyds Bank in Peterlee.

Tommy praised the event’s backers Peter and Tracey Webster from the Hearts of Oak, and Liam Dinene from Box Clever in Horden.

He said extra donations had come in since the day of the walk, from the Navy Club and Chapman’s butcher’s both in Blackhall.

A date has already been set for the 2016 walk. It will be held on the immediate Sunday after the finish of the next Football League season.

Tommy added: “In all the years of fundraising, we have so far raised about £10,000.”

Hospice bosses have described the walk as a fantastic success with every penny raised to be used to fund patient care services.

The hospice, in Wells Avenue, offers specialist palliative care to adults from Hartlepool and East Durham.

People accessing services can be living with illnesses including cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, Motor Neurone Disease, end stage heart disease and Parkinson’s.