Sea of glowing colour as crowds gather in Walsall to support Acorns Children's Hospice
It was a sea of colour as people gathered at a park in the Black Country to show their support for a much-loved hospice – by wearing glow-in-the-dark accessories.
Crowds took to Walsall Arboretum on Saturday evening in aid of Acorns Children's Hospice's £750,000 Room to Grow Appeal set up to refurbish its Walsall home.
So far £550,000 has been raised to modernise the Walstead Road facility, with the glow walk being held to raise as much money as possible towards the fundraiser.
People could take on a 5km or 10km track at the popular park wearing their brightest accessories – including glow-in-the-dark ears – to properly show their support.
Amanda Tipper, from Pleck in Walsall, attended with her 53-year-old partner Wayne Ryan, her eight-year-old son Alexander Smith and granddaughters Novah Smith, aged six, and Eliza Smith, aged eight, who said she was the oldest of the group.
The 47-year-old said: "We've already been to the bubble rush event this year to support Acorns, because you never know when you'll need it yourself really. And it's good to get the kids involved too and teach them about it.
"I know people who've worked there and there's a girl I knew whose child went to Acorns, so it's very important to show our support for it. The kids have loved it so far, and it's not just that – it's teaching them that there's other children out there who need support."
The event not only acted as a fundraiser for the charity, with ticket prices covering the event and sponsorship funds going towards the hospice directly, but also as a way to bring families together – evident by seven-year-old Hennessy Moy and her niece six-year-old Lottie-Louise Hutchinson.
Zoe Hutchinson, Lottie's mother who is from Walsall, said: "This is our second year doing this, we've got a close friend who uses Acorns for respite and it's very important to us. They (the children) have been enjoying it, they've been hyped up all day really. Lottie and Hennessy don't see each other very often, so it's brought us all together for the occasion."
And Lorretta Ebbans, Hennessy's mother who's from Great Barr and Zoe's sister, added she used to volunteer for an Acorns shop and received a notification the event was happening – and then signed up afterwards.
The event also featured a lit-up "robot" character – one which towered over people with different coloured lights flashing amidst the darkness – played by Jodie Duckworth, who joked with the children and reassured others: "I'm a nice robot, I promise."
Meanwhile of Morrison's community champions – Nicola Maycock for Wednesbury and Sarah Singleton for Bescot in Walsall – attended, with their respective stores helping to raise money for the hospice.
It comes as part of the national supermarket's partnership with Together for Short lives, a national charity which supports children's hospices across the country including Acorns Children's Hospice. The outcome meant each Morrison's store and site was connected with their local children's hospice to help them raise as much as possible.
Nicola, who took her eight-year-old son Tobyn Maycock to the event, said she was proud to be supporting the hospice – with the partnership meaning the community "are giving back to the community".
And as an added bonus Tobyn got to enjoy himself, wearing a Wolves beanie after the club he supports and glow-in-the-dark accessories including a pair of glasses and interacting with the robot character.
He added: "I'm thrilled. It's a phenomenal event to raise money for poorly children."
Participants were handed an exclusive Glow Walk t-shirt, a fundraising park, glow accessories and a medal upon completion. The money raised in sponsorship will help the hospice will help improve the 10 children's bedrooms and built a new purpose-built arts and crafts room.
