Around 700 women donned flashing bunny ears as they took a late-night stroll around Basingstoke in aid of the town's hospice on Saturday.
Basingstoke MP Maria Miller got the ladies – and a few men – on their way for the third annual St Michael's Hospice Midnight Walk. Over the past two years, the event has raised £190,000 for the charity, making it their biggest annual fundraiser.
Chief executive David Monkman said he hoped the walk would raise around £80,000 for the hospice, despite numbers being down on the 900 walkers who took part in 2010.
Among the walkers were Lin Misle-Fenwick and daughter Saxon, 21. The pair volunteer for the hospice and were walking for the first time.
Lin said: "We handed out medals at the end of the walk last year, but this year we wanted to take part. I'm walking in memory of my nan, as it would have been her birthday by the time we start.
"Everybody knows someone who has been to the hospice and I've never heard anyone say a bad word about what they do."
Starting from Festival Place, the ladies warmed up for the event with fitness instructor Craig Heggie from Basingstoke Centre Gym before embarking on a five or 11-mile circuit of the town.
MP Maria Miller told the Observer: "St Michael's Hospice is part of the backbone of Basingstoke. The work they do touches almost every family in the town and the borough, and I know from my own experience it’s not just the support they give to the patients – it’s also the family and friends and that makes all the difference."
For the first time, walkers were able to leave messages for loved ones who passed through the hospice or passed away on a memory board at the start of the race.
Chief executive David Monkman said that it cost around £3.3m to run the hospice each year, with only 20 per cent of the funding coming from the NHS.
The rest comes from fundraising, donations and the charity's eight stores across north Hampshire.
Mr Monkman said the charity was expanding its hospice at home services, which increased by 27 per cent in 2010, and money raised on the night would help provide those services.
"It gives people the choice to be in the hospice or to be at home and I really think that's the future of the hospice service," he said.
