The first weekend of October saw friends and family braving the elements in their efforts to raise much needed funds for some of our favourite charities.

 

The hubby and I kicked off on a cold, very windy Saturday evening, joining the annual Moonlight and Memories Walk organised by our local hospice.  A slightly different format than previous years, The Stade Open Space was commandeered from 4.30. There were food stalls, craft, tombola and raffle stalls, together with a memory wall and stage from where various artists had been entertaining our fellow walkers.

Inclement weather deterred many of us from arriving until closer to the start time of 6.30. A local drumming band was still playing as we checked in and picked up our tea light to illuminate our lanterns. Their energy got us moving a little to help us fend off the cool evening air.

As the organising team from the hospice took to the stage to welcome us and explain how the evening would pan out, we knew we were nearly ready for the off, just the usual warm up exercises to go and we would be on our way.

We would be walking 7km, with the hospice being the half way point offering refreshments. I presume the walk had been carefully measured, as we took an unusual route at the beginning, winding our way through alleys and twittens of the Old Town, before hitting the seafront where we could spread out and walk at our own paces. With the wind in our faces, we decided to use it as one of our training walks and picked up a little speed, weaving passed some of our fellow walkers.

It is a steep climb from the seafront to the hospice, so a cup of hot chocolate, a sweet treat and a sit down for a short while was a welcome break. As we finished our refreshments, the room started to fill with walking mates looking for a short rest, so we vacated our seats and headed outside, with a choir serenading us along our way.

The return journey was a little easier, as it was initially downhill and heading back along the seafront the wind was behind us. Waves noisily crashed on the beach as the tide came in. The sun had set but all along the route, hospice volunteers lit our way with their colourful torches.

Our final stop was back at the Stade. The craft stalls had been packed away and most of the lovely volunteers had headed home, leaving a space in front of the stage for us to place our lanterns, reflect and remember loved ones who have left us far too soon.

For this event we didn’t ask for sponsorship, just raised awareness in our purple shirts as we walked and made a personal donation to the hospice funds.

 

Sunday was a long awaited date in ours and friends households, as the annual Hastings Half Marathon, which had been postponed from March was due to take place.

 

 

Our daughter and the Bestie’s two daughters were starting together and helping to raise funds for the charity, You Raise Me Up, in memory of a local 10 year old, who tragically lost his life in a traffic accident.

The two sons of another friend, were also running with a whole group of mates and raising money for the British Heart Foundation, in memory of their Dad, Gaz, who sadly left us in 2024.

My hubby dropped our girls to the start point on the seafront. As the race passes along the road at the end of our close, our family stood, along with our neighbours, to cheer all the runners along, but especially our two gangs.

We spotted and encouraged a few we knew as they flew passed us, but got really excited as Bestie daughter No 1, appeared over the crest of the hill. Loud woops and claps filled the air as she approached us. She could still talk at that point and advised us our daughter wasn’t far behind.

Her pink cap appeared in the distance and we were very surprised, but pleased to see she had found our friends two boys and was running alongside them. Just four minutes later and Bestie daughter No 2 beamed as she passed by, followed quickly by another member of Team Gaz.

After cheering on more runners, some in fancy dress and another couple of friends, we decided to make our way to the seafront in the hope of catching our gangs as they came across the finish line.

We got lucky, finding a spot just after the finish line and with cameras at the ready, we tracked our daughter as she made her way around. An old friend was the first we spotted. I mean old as in long standing, although at 62 he’s possibly  no longer classed as young. He crossed the line after 2 hours and 3 minutes and was disappointed not to be sub 2 hours. 😳

Bestie daughter No 1 finished in 2 hours 10 minutes and six minutes later our friends boys arrived,  followed a few seconds later by our daughter. Bestie daughter No 2 wasn’t far behind and did brilliantly as she had been quite poorly a couple of weeks beforehand.

The girls joined us, for photos and waited with us, to support more of their team mates as they crossed the line.

• The girls group Team HD-10 raised a massive £8400 for You Raise Me Up
• Team Gaz have so far raised an equally impressive £5000 for the British Heart Foundation

Both fund raising pages are currently still open for donations.

What a fabulous fund raising weekend and great achievements for all those that ran the race.

The half marathon returns to its usual slot in March 2026 and the Moonlight Walk takes place again in September 2026. We look forward to supporting both events again next year.