IT has become the biggestfundraising event of the year for Kirkwood Hospice.

And now staff and supporters are gearing up for their fifth Midnight Memory Walk.

The walk – which has raised £315,000 in the past four years – will take place on Saturday, June 18.

Many hundreds take to the streets in the early hours and many are walking to raise money for family and friends who have received care in the hospice.

The annual walk is now Kirkwood’s single largest fundraising event and its success is essential in helping to maintain the vital services which the Hospice provides.

It is a 10-mile circular sponsored road walk which starts and finishes at The Galpharm Stadium. There is also a shorter six-mile route which everyone has the opportunity to opt for on the night if they wish.

Registration is from 10pm and there will be a full entertainment programme including two amazing fire shows by ‘Ber-Cirque’. On the stroke of midnight there will be a spectacular balloon release and Hospice mascot, Duncan the Dragon, will cut the yellow ribbon for the walkers to set off.

Marshals and volunteers cover the entire route and there is full first aid cover throughout the night.

Every walker receives a Midnight Memory Walk T-shirt in their walker’s pack when they register and at the end of the walk, a medal and a well-earned bacon butty.

Hospice events fundraiser Jane Dutton said: “This is a unique event with a very special atmosphere as everyone is walking in memory of a loved one.

“Please support Kirkwood Hospice, your local charity. We are confined to the Kirklees boundaries to stage our events and raise the £4 million-plus which we need every year to keep our doors open and maintain all of our services, free of charge.

“Every penny we raise is used to care for those people in Kirklees who suffer from life-threatening illnesses, their families, friends and carers”.

For details contact Jane Dutton at Kirkwood Hospice on 01484 557911 or email: janed@kirkwoodhospice.co.uk for a registration form. The registration fee is £10 for adults and £5 for children aged 16 years and under.