TWENTY six Ladies from Warrington Indian Ladies group joined together to take on the Hospice Hike, a 10km pre-planned route starting at Warrington Town Hall.
Suma Jagadeesh, part of the Warrington Indian Ladies team spoke about the challenge and why they chose to take part: ‘There are 26 ladies who walked in our group, and we are between the ages of 30 and 75. One of the ladies, Nilima, is a retired doctor and has an autoimmune disease (mixed connective tissue disease, which is in the same group as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis). It causes vision problems, so her husband walked with her on the day. She is an inspiration to us all!’
Suma said that the group have previously done the Starlight Walk for St Rocco’s, and some have taken part in other events including the Sunset Walk. The group have also visited the hospice previously around Christmas and Diwali to deliver food donations for patients.
“We support St Rocco’s because they are a local charity, and we want to help in whatever way we can. It’s important to look after the charities in the Warrington community and we try to raise as much money as we can for the hospice.”
It wasn’t just the ladies who took part in the event; some of the men who are friends and family members of the Warrington Indian Ladies group volunteered to marshal at the event on the day. Events like this rely on volunteers and without them, they wouldn’t happen.
“We are grateful that they gave up their time to help”, said Suma.
“We chose to walk in our sarees because it is something personal to the group and we wanted to showcase our traditional Indian attire. We also thought it was an opportunity to do something different. It was a challenge because they can be difficult to walk in. They are six meters in length and can be made from different fabrics like cotton and silk which can also make them quite heavy. We are so happy to have completed the hike and we hope by wearing our sarees, we have also raised awareness of the Indian community in Warrington.”
Between them, the Warrington Indian Ladies covered a walking distance of over 160 miles and so far, they have raised a huge £2,527 in the process! The team at St Rocco’s are so grateful for their commitment to supporting the hospice and thry look forward to seeing them at future events. You can show your support by visiting their fundraising page here: St Rocco’s Hospice: St Rocco’s Hospice Hike (enthuse.com)
If you would like to hear more about upcoming events or about the services offered by St Rocco’s, you can visit the website www.stroccos.org.uk. You can also contact the Events Team on 01925 575780 or by emailing [email protected]
