Walk the Wight 2024 has now raised a record £500,000 for Mountbatten.
Ten days after 9,500 walkers joined together for the annual fundraiser, the charity revealed the landmark figure had been reached.
Speaking during a thank you evening for volunteers and sponsors this week, Mountbatten CEO Nigel Hartley said it was an ‘extraordinary achievement’, though warned against complacency.
He said,
“It feels very emotional to say we have reached half a million pounds.
“We knew topping last year would be a big ask but our incredible community has got behind us and achieved something very special.
“£500,000 is a remarkable figure and the money is absolutely vital in helping us to maintain our services at the current level.
“We are now supporting over 2,200 people living at home across the Island, plus hundreds at the hospice every day and demand for our services continues to grow.
“With that comes the need for additional resource so we can help more people who needs us.
“Any one of us could find ourselves in a position where we need Mountbatten’s care and support, as we know when illness comes, it is often unexpectedly.
“Unlike everything else, the funding we receive from the NHS, which is around a third of the overall £10.5 million we need to find every year, is not going up.
“The wider health system is really struggling and we are feeling the impact of that with less funding coming through.
“While this is a truly wonderful, extraordinary achievement, we have to keep going and finding ways of raising more money to fill the gaps.
“We are incredibly grateful to everyone involved in this year’s Walk the Wight.
“We are so very lucky to have a community who understands Mountbatten and the importance of our work.
“On behalf of everyone at Mountbatten, thank you.”
Editor’s note:
Last year’s final total was £460,000, which was a new record at the time. Prior to that, Walk the Wight raised between £250,000 and £300,000 for Mountbatten.
News shared by Matt on behalf of Mountbatten. Ed
