Weston Hospice's Men's March postponed - but still time to sign up!

Weston Hospicecare’s Men’s March has been moved from Saturday 20 March to Sunday 18 April due to concerns over any potential lockdown extension.

The Men’s March is a 10 mile charity walk which usually follows a glorious route from the Grand Pier to Sand Point and back. Participants are then greeted with a delicious cider from event sponsors Thatcher’s Cider, a collectable pint glass and a Pieminister pie.

It was due to take place parallel to the last weekend of the Six Nations rugby tournament.

The hospice is concerned that if there is any extension to the current coronavirus lockdown it would mean the event would need to be suspended anyway.

Comprehensive precautions and safety measure plans led to the hospice being confident it would be safe for participants to take part.

The plans were approved by North Somerset Council and the hospice’s Health and Safety providers.

Measures included staggered start times, contactless check-in, a new temporary route (to minimise the risk of participant contact), hand sanitiser at each checkpoint and sending the participants home with the usual refreshments to watch the Six Nations finale once they finish.

Usually, participants gather at the end to watch the rugby on a big screen.

The hospice’s Director of Fundraising, Mark Flower, said: “We’ve taken the difficult decision to move the date of the upcoming Men’s March.

“As we have shown with the postponement of our Strictly Fun Dancing, Mendip Challenge, Moonlight Beach Walk and Light Up A Life events, we do not hesitate to ensure the safety of our incredible fundraisers. Especially in the context of this pandemic.

“We initially launched the Men’s March over the Christmas period. We are confident the measures we had in place would have delivered an excellent, safe and enjoyable fundraising event on the original date.

“However, we’re now increasingly concerned by the persistent increase in severity of this pandemic and have decided to postpone the event to pre-empt any forced postponement.

The cancellation of events and closure of shops has had a huge impact on fundraising to support the hospices services over the last year.

Those who have signed up already for the Men’s March have been contacted and their spaces have automatically been transferred to the new date.

Registration remains open for the new Men’s March date (18 April) and early bird spaces are still available to snap up. Early bird spaces cost £15 per adult and £10 per child.

All the latest information about the event is available by visiting https://bit.ly/MensMarch21OT.