Myrtle and owner spring into action for hospice funds
One man and his dog are taking to the streets to walk 180 miles and visit all 28 Dorothy House shops to raise cash for the hospice service. Dorothy House chief executive John Davies and his springer spaniel, Myrtle, are embarking on an epic walk, visiting all the hospice’s shops in 20 towns from Wednesday, October 17, to Friday, November 2. The walking tour will launch the hospice’s bold ‘Everyday, Everyone’ plan for 2018 to 2025 to deliver outstanding palliative and end-of-life care across Bath and North East Somerset, Wiltshire and Somerset. Mr Davies and the Dorothy House team will share the hospice’s vision for the future, meet local people, businesses, charities and community groups and raise vital funds for patient care. A spokesman for the charity said: “The ‘Everyday, Everyone’ plan is the outcome of a two-year review and analysis into local care needs which revealed that demand for palliative and end of life care is set to grow by a third between 2018-2025.” Mr Davies said he was excited to be raising much needed funds for the hospice and was hoping to get a lot of support. He said: “I’m excited to be walking the Dorothy House ‘patch’ and look forward to meeting and walking with the public, local businesses, charities and community groups on my travels to share our vision for the future. “Our bold new strategy provides a solid platform for us to meet the challenges facing hospice care through partnership, innovation and smart financial stewardship. “Please join me on our walking tour as we seek to inspire the community to support this muchtreasured hospice and work alongside us to ensure that outstanding end of life care becomes part of the ‘everyday’ and accessible to everyone.” The plan outlines how Dorothy House will develop its care and support services in the next seven years while meeting the challenges of an ageing population and a widening patient base as the hospice supports more people with non-cancer diagnoses. Currently 21 per cent of people cared for by the hospice are noncancer patients which will rise to an expected 56 per cent in 2025. The walking tour will visit around 20 local towns in the region starting and ending in Bath with celebration events on October 17 and November 2 and will take in towns such as Devizes, Chippenham, Malmesbury and Corsham among others. To donate funds visit https://localgiving.org/fundraising/onemanandhisdog/