ALMOST £80,000 has been raised for the Ayrshire Hospice through one of their biggest events.

And organisers this week thanked participants in the Starlight Walk and their sponsors for support.

Tracey Corrigan, Assistant Fundraising Manager at Ayrshire Hospice is delighted with how the event went and said “Huge thanks again to all the walkers who took part in our Starlight Walk this year making it once again such great success. The total so far is an amazing £78,621 which is up on last year’s total, and the money is still coming in! We are also, of course, extremely grateful to our main sponsor Ayr Audi, and to all of our supporting sponsors Tesco Ayr, Piersland Hotel, Healthy Working Lives, The Cook School Scotland, Tunnock’s, Barr’s Soft Drinks, South Ayrshire Council and the Ayrshire Post. Next year will be our special 10th Anniversary Walk so watch this space for more details!”

More than 830 walkers took to the streets of Ayr for the annual Ayrshire Hospice Land o’ Burns Starlight Walk back in May. Thankfully the weather was kind as walkers tackled either a four, nine or 13-mile route which kept them on their toes well into the wee small hours of Sunday morning.

Some excellent pre-walk entertainment was provided by DJ Colin McArdle, with the team from Curves Ayr getting participants warmed up before sending them off in style at 10pm from Ayr Racecourse, accompanied by the tunes of the Maybole Pipe Band and encouragement from Mary the Faerie and her stiltwalking friends.

More than 100 hundred volunteer stewards were stationed out on the route to help keep everyone safe.

Some fantastic live music from local band “Orthodox” kept walkers entertained at the Alloway rest stop, kindly lit by McKissock Electrical, where participants were given complimentary snacks, water and a banana courtesy of Tesco Ayr.

On triumphant completion of their walk, everyone received a medal at the finish line and a well-deserved, extremely tasty, bacon roll.

If you still have outstanding sponsor monies, please forward it to Ayrshire Hospice as soon as possible by posting a cheque or by visiting the website www.ayrshirehospice.org and selecting the Just Giving or the donation section (please reference Starlight Walk, with your name and walk number). Alternatively you can pay on the phone or pop in directly to the fundraising office at 29 Miller Road, Ayr KA7 2AX, Tel 01292 288488.