Women of Warrington Sparkle for St. Rocco’s Starlight Ladies Walk

VIDEO: WARRINGTON women sparkled, bedecked in sequins and day-glow costumes, to light up the town and raise thousands of pounds for St. Rocco’s Hospice.

On Saturday night St. Rocco’s Hospice asked the women of Warrington to sparkle to support those with terminal and life-limiting illnesses in their community at their 2018 Starlight Ladies Walk – and the ladies didn’t disappoint!

More than 800 of them lit up the night sky on a beautiful evening with sparkles, stars, fairy lights and flashing crowns, to name but a few, on their purple Starlight 2018 t-shirts.

DJ Andy Vance got the ladies into the swing of things and the Rock Choir,Warrington, gave inspiring performances both before the walk and to encourage the ladies once on the route. AT Dance, also getting onto the sparkly theme, were on hand to entertain the ladies at the Orford Jubilee Hub and at Victoria Park with their dance routines.

‘Wish Upon a Sparkle’ gave the finishing touches to many ladies outfits with their glittery face paint and it turned out that this was also a great hit with many of the male marshalls and volunteers.

The ladies had all turned out for the 13th walk to raise much needed funds to allow St. Rocco’s to continue to care for patients and families at the most difficult time of their lives.

Before the walk a team of nurses and healthcare assistants from St. Rocco’s were invited up on stage by the Chair of Trustees, Roger Preece. They were accompanied by the Mayor of Warrington, Cllr Karen Mundry and her consort Jason, as well as Wolves star Ben Westwood and Head Coach Steve Price.

The ladies then heard a moving speech by Sarah Dillon from Woolston, who has marshalled at the event for eight years, as she shared her family’s experience of St. Rocco’s who cared for her mum through her illness and in her final days. The headteacher described St. Rocco’s as ‘our hospice, Warrington’s hospice, a ray of hope in the darkest moments’.

She told the assembled crowd:“Each of your shining lights represents a family that has been touched and wrapped up in that hug, the warm blanket that is St Rocco’s Hospice.”

Following the emotional speech there was a rousing warm up from Livewire’s Sharon Bannister, assisted by Ben Westwood and Steve Price, and then it was time for the countdown to midnight. The ladies were off, led out by the St. Rocco’s staff team, a long line of light, sparkling its way around the streets of Warrington, overseen and encouraged by a small army of volunteers keeping them safe on the route.

Rachel Ingham, Fundraising Manager at St. Rocco’s said: “It’s always a very emotional sight watching so many ladies walking for Warrington but this year they looked even more spectacular and the atmosphere was fantastic. The Starlight Ladies Walk is by far our biggest fundraising event and the money raised each year by the ladies is vital to allowing us to continue to look after those in our community who need us. We’d like to thank everyone who has supported the event in any way on behalf our patients and their families.”

The next fun-filled event for St. Rocco’s is the Colour Bubble Fun Run which takes place at 11.30am on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27 at Walton Hall and Gardens. For more information and to sign up, please go to https://www.stroccos.org.uk/events/colour-bubble-fun-run/.