More than 200 people flocked to a socially distanced walk commemorating lost loved ones.

St Clare Hospice’s flagship fundraising event Walking in Memory went ahead with covid-secure rules in place, raising around £8,000 for the hospice charity in vital funding, on Sunday, September 20.

The five kilometre walk was safely managed with three staggered start times, social distancing measures, and hand sanitiser stations. Walk participants also had to leave their contact details with organisers as part of the Government's test and trace programme.

Event organiser Emma Broadbent said: “It was a privilege to be able to put on this thoughtful remembrance event for the people of West Essex and East Herts. A number of families who joined us at the event were remembering family members and friends who had died during the past, very difficult, few months and who they had not had a chance to honour because of covid restrictions at their funerals.”

“It was such a poignant moment to see a sea of hundreds of windmills gently turning in the breeze – the memorial display in the Hospice gardens representing each of the people who are dearly missed. The event was needed this year, more than ever, to give families a chance to celebrate the lives of their lost loves ones, and sits at the heart of St Clare’s mission to support local people facing death, dying and bereavement, in any way that we can.”

She added: “We’d like to thank everyone who attended, and volunteered, on Sunday for their support of St Clare Hospice – the money that we raised at Walking in Memory is needed this year more than ever as we tackle the impact that the coronavirus has had on our fundraising income."

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