Magic! Fundraisers break out of jail for Beckton hospice
Teams of fundraisers fled as far as they could on Saturday after breaking out of ‘jail’ in an event for a children’s hospice.
Dan Allen and Patrick Horsefield managed to get across the North Sea in the ‘jailbreak’ from The Tower of London organised Richard House Children’s Hospice. They were among six other teams tasked with getting as far away as possible without using cash.
Other prizes were awarded for covering the most ground in the UK and trekking the furthest on foot. The UK prize winners were Samuel Jarvis and Steve Cannon, who reached Newcastle, while Harry Singh and Neil Williamson won the trekking prize by reaching reaching Leatherhead on foot.
Neil, who works with young adults like Harry at Richard House Children’s Hospice said it was a fantastic experience.
Harry is a former service user at Richard House who now works part-time in the fundraising department. He is the inspiration behind the hospice’s Harry’s Million campaign that aims to raise �1m over the next three years.
Neil said: “We got amazing reactions as we walked through London. Our aim was to get to The Children’s Trust centre in Tadworth where we were able to hand out some presents to the children and relax for a while before continuing our walk.
“Anthea Hare, the founder and life president of Richard House, came to see us and that was a boost. In total, we trekked about 18 miles which was a great achievement.”
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In total, seven teams competed in the event for Richard House. It was the first ever ‘Jailbreak’ from the Tower of London for the hospice.
Each team had to raise a minimum sponsorship and all money raised will go towards funding care and services at the Newham-based hospice that cares for 170 children from across east and north east London.
Ben Alonso, community fundraiser for Richard House, said: “Everything we’ve done over the past 24 hours has helped us raise money and awareness for the hospice. Thank you to everyone who took part and who sponsored our Jailbreakers.”
