More than 330 joggers dressed in red and white Santa suits have raised over £11,000 for local hospice care after a festive run in Buxton.

Blythe House Hospicecare and Helen’s Trust hosted their annual Jingle Bell Jog at Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens on Sunday 4 December.

Applauding onlookers enjoyed cheering on the jogging Santas as they made their way around the 5km or 700m routes. 

All the money raised will go towards supporting Blythe House and Helen’s Trust to provide free of charge hospice care to patients and families across North Derbyshire who are affected by life-limiting illness and bereavement. 

Dawn Stafford and Sarah McNicholas from Chapel-en-le-Frith took part in memory of Dawn’s mum and Sarah’s mother-in-law, Yvonne McNicholas. Dawn said: ‘Mum passed away nearly three years ago and she was cared for at home by Blythe House.

Sarah added: ‘My mum is also currently receiving care and support from the hospice as she has terminal cancer. We took part in the event last year and we decided to keep it up.’

Callum Sully from PT Corner in Buxton took part alongside friends and clients. He said: ‘We’re a personal training facility and we gather a few people to take part as a group. We’ve taken part probably since the first ever Jingle Bell Jog, except obviously during the pandemic, and we’ve had more and more people each time. This year we’ve actually beaten our time going around the course.’

Samantha Kent from Buxton said: ‘I’m training to be a counsellor and I’m in my second year of the Level 3 course at Buxton and Leek College. Last year, we had a talk by a lady called Rachel from the counselling team at Blythe House and she was so inspirational – including how she put herself across and the advice that she gave to us. The second that she left the classroom, me and one of the other girls just said “wow, she was amazing.” It’s been great to take part today alongside a good friend, and the experience with Rachel definitely had a part to play in that.’

Louise Grabowski, from Buxton, explained: ‘My friend Jo used to do this run every year; she loved to get involved in charity events and fundraising, and every year she used to message me and say: “Where are you and why aren’t you doing it?” And unfortunately, she died this year, and so when it came up, I thought: “Right, I am going to carry on what she used to do and sign up.” And so, every year now, I am going to sign up and do it for Jo.’

Rachael Gee, fundraising and events coordinator at the hospice, said: ‘I’d like to say a huge and sincere thank you to everyone who made sure our Jingle Bell Jog was such a big success. The buzz in the air was tangible and we were able to raise an incredible amount of money to support local hospice patients. We are so thankful to everyone who made this possible – the total amount will go a very long way to help people in your community.

‘A big thank you to local businesses and individuals whose free of charge support means that as much money as possible has been raised to directly fund patient care. They include iBottles from Chinley for being the event’s headline sponsor; the team from Accidental Fitness Buxton for hosting the jog warm up; Castleton Silver Band for performing at the band stand; Lhoist Buxton for sponsoring the medals; Buxton Water for donating bottles of water; Iain Klieve for photographing and videoing the event; MVIS Ltd of Matlock for sponsoring signage; Up and Running in Sheffield for the runner race numbers.’

To see photos and videos from the event, find the hospice on social media:

• Facebook: Blythe House Hospicecare and Helen's Trust
• Instagram: blythehousehospice1
• Twitter: @BlytheHouseHosp
• TikTok: blythehousehelenstrust

The hospice is delighted to confirm that the Jingle Bell Jog will be back next year on Sunday 3 December 2023. Register to take part before Sunday 18 December 2022 for a super early bird offer of just £5: www.jinglebelljog.org.uk. 

Images by Iain Klieve

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