A physical education teacher from Somerset has signed up to take part in Weston Hospicecare’s first-ever Men’s March on Saturday 9 March.
David Hallam, aged 47 and from Burnham-on-Sea, says it is really important for people to join forces to support Weston Hospicecare and the opportunity of taking part in an outdoor event inspired him to sign up.
The Men’s March is the first men-only fundraising event the hospice has organised and will start and finish at the Grand Pier on Weston seafront.
A shared love of the outdoors inspired David and four friends to sign up for the challenge to support the hospice.
David said: “I work as a PE teacher at a secondary school in Shepton Mallet and I thoroughly enjoy being in the great outdoors.
“I decided to take part in the challenge to help support a local charity and in doing help make a difference to somebody’s life, be that a patient in the hospice or their family member.
“There are four of us taking part in the Men’s March. We are all friends who decided to do take part in the challenge for the same sorts of reasons. Our group is made up of Chris, Lead Cancer Research Nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital, Rob, CEO of Age UK Gloucester, Rob’s teenage son Joe and myself.
“I am planning to undertake a couple of fundraisers for the hospice this year, the first being the Men’s March and then hopefully we will all be taking on the Mendip Challenge together later in the summer.
“Last year, my wife and a group of friends completed the 20-mile Mendip Challenge and so this year I decided that it was my turn to help support our local hospice.”
David says it is vital people living in the area support the hospice, which offers its services free of charge to those in need.
He continued: “I feel that it is really important that local people like myself raise money for charity’s like Weston Hospicecare so that patients and families can get the support that they need at very difficult times in their lives.
“I want to raise money for Weston Hospicecare because I strongly support the notion that all the money raised through the fundraising events are an integral part of keeping the hospice open supporting patient and their families.
“The hospice is invaluable, the support that the charity provides to patients in the inpatient unit, through the day hospice and in the community outreach service gives patients choices about living well with a terminal illness.”
As part of the event, participants will be rewarded for their fundraising efforts with a free pint of Thatchers Gold and a pasty before being offered the opportunity to watch England’s Six Nations match against Italy.
To join David at the Men’s March, you can sign up by clicking here.