Making memories matter

Walking midnight miles for hospice care

12th July 2025

Making memories matter

Big-hearted walkers wore sunny smiles and vibrant pink T-shirts as they strode through the city’s streets on Friday (11 July), celebrating precious memories of much-missed family members and friends, while raising funds to support the compassionate care St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth delivers.

Our annual, family-friendly Midnight Walk attracted an incredible 1,125 entrants taking on a choice of four routes – 2.5, five, 7.5 and 13.5 miles (the equivalent of a half marathon) – making it accessible for people of all ages and levels of fitness.

As evening fell on a roasting hot day, participants gathered in the Fan Zone at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park stadium from 7pm, ready for the challenge ahead. On the backs of their official T-shirts they wrote the names of lost loved ones they would be honouring on the walk, many of whom were cared for by St Luke’s nursing teams at the end of their lives.

Some embellished their outfits with cowboy hats, flashing bunny ears, boas, garlands and headdresses, while some opted for full-on fancy dress. A lively musical warm-up led by RT Fitness Clubbercise added a fun festival atmosphere to the poignant but uplifting event, sponsored once again by Plymouth business Michael Spiers.

This year the three longer routes created a colourful parade through Central Park and down to the Hoe, via Western Approach and Millbay, as sunset approached. While the 13.5-milers completed a circuit that took them through the city to Embankment and back to their starting point via Derriford roundabout, the five and 7.5 mile entrants looped back up to Argyle and beyond via Armada Way and North Cross. Setting out last, the 2.5-mile walkers swung right out of Home Park, marching up Outland Road to Manadon Roundabout before retracing their steps.

Crossing the finish line, each entrant received an official medal, plus hearty thanks from St Luke’s team of organisers and volunteers, acknowledging their contribution to secure the future of the hospice’s vital end-of-life services, caring for patients and their loved ones at home and at their specialist unit at Turnchapel.

For Helen Platten, her sister Nicola Shell, and their young daughters Molly Platten,10, and Rosie Webb, seven, it was a particularly poignant evening as with each step they remembered taking part in Midnight Walk with their mum, Lynne, two years ago.

That time they were walking the shortest route together to remember husband, dad and granddad Pip Shell, who was cared for by St Luke’s before his death in 2022.  They never dreamt that Lynne would receive the hospice’s compassionate care just a couple of years later, both at home and at the specialist unit.

“Mum was a supporter of St Luke’s even before Dad was ill because they cared for our Nan,” said Helen. “She was so happy that she could be with my dad all the time when he was at St Luke’s; she never left his side.  It’s really important for us to keep that link, and both Mum and Dad have a leaf on the Memory Tree at St Luke’s at Turnchapel.”

This year, now their daughters are a bit older, they embraced the five mile challenge.

“It’s good to get the girls involved. They are really proud of raising money for St Luke’s. We have collected £580 this year and we are so thankful to everyone because they know how much this means to us.”

Rita Billingham, whose husband, David, died just a few weeks ago at St Luke’s specialist unit, was putting her best foot forward with daughter, Louise, and four-month-old baby granddaughter Phoebe in her pushchair.

“We were married for nearly 50 years,” said Rita, from Sherford. “He was only ill for three-and-a-half weeks and was at St Luke’s for 48 hours before he died on June 12.  It was truly wonderful there. We were all able to be with him, day or night, including my other two children, the grandchildren and even the dogs.

Louise added: “It wasn’t only about Dad; they were there for us too. My older daughter, who is four, was given a Memory Bear. Now it’s lovely to do something like this for Granddad and St Luke’s.”

A group of 12 colleagues from Skills Group, an independent training provider in Plymouth, gathered to walk 13.5 miles in honour of their managing director Sharon Chaffe, who died last October at St Luke’s specialist unit. By Friday they had raised nearly £700 in sponsorship for St Luke’s and were fully embracing the sparkly vibes of the evening.

“It’s about bringing us all together to raise awareness and to help people at the end of life and bring them comfort,” explained group member Annette. More Skills Group employees were turning out to support the team along the route.

Lifelong friends Georgina, from Mutley, and Zoe, from Paignton, were walking in memory of their respective grandmas, Pat and Diane, who were both cared for by St Luke’s a few years ago.

As they prepared to set off from Home Park, Georgina said: “It is a little bit emotional when you gather here and see all these people who have been helped by St Luke’s. It feels nice to come and do this together. I don’t think either of us ever has walked 13.5 miles, but we will give it a good go.”

South Devon doctor Rumi has taken part in Midnight Walk several times and this year her friends Reena and Shilpa came from Exeter to join her on the 13.5 mile challenge.

She said: “We don’t have any personal experience of St Luke’s care, but this is our way of giving back to society by supporting a brilliant organisation. Everybody comes with a story, and we are all holding hands with each other as we walk.”

The prize for youngest 13.5-mile Midnight Walker has to go to three-month-old Josie Martin, even though she was being carried by her mum, Judith, who has three older children, and her friend Rebecca Giles, a mother of two. They were regular Midnight Walkers for several years until family life made things more complicated.

“We missed taking part so, as I’m breastfeeding the baby, the solution was to bring her along,” said Judith. “We are lucky because St Luke’s hasn’t touched our lives too personally but the work they do is amazing, and we like to support it.”

Leaving the other children at home with their dads, the friends planned to stop for feeds and nappy changes along the 13.5-mile route but expected Josie to sleep through most of her first Midnight Walk experience.

St Luke’s Head of Fundraising, Penny Hannah, said: “It is always so touching to see our Midnight Walkers go the extra mile to remember their loved ones and raise funds to ensure others can benefit from our compassionate care, free of charge, 365 days a year.

“We reversed the direction of our longer routes this year which meant most participants could enjoy being by the Hoe, looking out to sea as the sun was going down on a gloriously sunny day in our beautiful home city.

“The atmosphere of camaraderie was wonderful to witness, and while a few tears were shed, it was a really joyful, bonding occasion. We would like to thank every single walker for their compassion and kindness. We are also hugely grateful to our wonderful sponsors Michael Spiers and to Plymouth Argyle as hosts of our event village, the locations along the route that acted as rehydration stops, and not forgetting our army of fantastic volunteers. Midnight Walk can only happen because of their wonderful support.”

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