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On a very sunny, warm but windy Friday 18th June 2010 1450 ladies (and one very brave man, subtly disguised in a tutu) descended on Tesco Car Park in Workington for Workington’s first ever Midnight Walk. As it was the second time we had organised a Midnight Walk a few lessons had been learned and we had the confidence to say the day/night was going to be better than ever. And we weren't disappointed! It really was a fantastic night - thanks to everybody who was involved!
Registration was a lot smoother this year as it was held inside and was all done electronically. We ended up having to open at 9am instead of 10am as some of the ladies were beginning to form a queue!! From this moment on we just knew the day was going to be fantastic – and we were not disappointed. On the car park the CFM road show kicked off proceedings at 9pm and after a bit of coaxing ladies started to venture onto the stage for the karaoke. This was followed by our fancy dress competition, and this year we also had some great spot prizes. Three groups of ladies were chosen as finalists in the fancy dress competition – the Mayfield Mechanics, the Clowns & Lou & Andy. They were all called onto the stage and the winner was the group that got the biggest cheer from the crowd. Lou & Andy won 1st prize, which was a ride in the ‘pink limo’ or ‘boogie bus’ courtesy of 1st Class limo Hire of Penrith. The boogie bus was a very big hit on the night; it had a dance floor, bar, juke box, cages & a pole…….totally awesome. The 2nd & 3rd prizes were made up of a variety of beauty themed gifts & vouchers all donated from local businesses. The buzz on the night was electric, with the ladies (& approx 50 dogs) dancing, clapping, singing and in general having a really great time whilst raising money to do so!! Mandy & Nicola (from Moorclose Sports Centre) got the ladies all warmed up before the Reverend Mary Day said a few words and initiated a minute's silence. Gazza from CFM started the countdown and on the stroke of midnight the ladies were off………..a sea of bunny ears left Tesco (almost crushing the poor photographer) and headed towards the Cloffocks car park. We had a special finish gantry this year and the ladies all enjoyed coming onto it to receive their medals. £100,000.00 was pledged on the night for Hospice at Home West Cumbria, a fantastic figure that I’m delighted with. I’m sure the total will increase due to Gift Aid and company match funding etc. I am hoping that in my next report I will be able to inform you that you have generated a mega amount of £250,000.00 from our first two Midnight Walks. I am already thinking about next year’s walk & how it can be even better!!!! The date for the walk is Friday 8th July in Whitehaven. Entry forms will be available from the 2nd week in January 2011. Believe it or not some people have already asked if they can enter now!!!! I cannot end this report without sincerely thanking ALL our supporters and volunteers for their help on the day/night and the run up to this event. With a big thank you to all the Marshalls who gave up their time on a ‘World Cup’ night to stand around in the cold making sure the ladies were safe. I would also like to offer a ‘big thank you’ to the following:
The walk’s main sponsor was Dobies, and we also had sponsorship from Opera Bingo and Firpress.
Gillian Chadwick Community Fundraiser
P.S. Thanks to the Times and Star and Dave Elliott for the pictures.
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