Dorothy House in Winsley was the venue for the annual Santa Dash on Sunday, with 139 runners taking part, all sporting Father Christmas outfits.

Runners completed a 6km all-terrain course to and from the grounds of the Winsley-based hospice.

Among the participants was John Davies, chief executive of the hospice, who was taking part in the fun run for the first time.

He said: “I had my doubts as to whether I could make it round the course. 

“Seeing photographs of relatives pinned to the Santa suits of some of the runners focused my mind, and despite the trauma of the final hill, there was only laughter and out of tune singing throughout.”

“The cheers and claps from supporters got me through and is yet another memorable experience for me from Dorothy House.”

Now in its third year, a new addition to the event was a fancy dress parade for under-11s who welcomed back runners to the finish line.

The event was expected to raise more than £15,000 for the Day Patient Unit.
Samm Vince, who rallied together ‘Team Vince’, a group of seven mums and two dads to take part, said: “We managed to talk and trot whilst picking beard fluff out of our mouths and had an amazing time.  It was brilliant fun on a beautiful winter morning whilst raising money for a great cause.”

Dorothy House was recently awarded a grant of more than £8,000 by the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the publishers of the Wilt-shire Times and sister paper Gazette & Herald in September. 

They plan to use the money to buy specialist chairs for its Day Patient Unit.