The morning of the Annual Western Sussex Hospitals Charity Fundraising Walk on 9th May at Stanstead House and Park started off as a chilly one.  We had been asked to provide something to visibly promote the event on the morning.  Always one to rise to a challenge, we arrived early to make sure everything was set up prior to the other walkers arriving, as we pulled into the long drive we were greeted by a couple of eager volunteers who were already busy putting up large banners and signs - goodness knows what time they'd got started.  It's very easy to overlook the fact that when everyone turns up for an event like this that a raft of people behind the scenes have already been there a couple of hours ahead of everyone making sure everything is organised.  

We took along 2 spiral balloon columns topped with jumbo red hearts with a personalised message along with balloons to highlight the event from the road and driveway leading up to the registration area.  Once everything was in place we got ourselves registered to take part and with the promise of breakfast after our bracing walk in the stunning private ground of Stanstead House we waited while everyone turned up to register.  There was a great mix of people - mums and dads with their children, people with their dogs, a group of serious looking walkers with walking poles and hiking boots, everyone was really friendly.

The Love Your Hospital charity is a fantastic cause and by supporting the walk we also had the opportunity to see parts of the grounds at Stanstead House that were not usually open to members of the public (lets face it we all like the chance to be a bit nosey!) - it would have been great to have a picnic but the weather wasn't that conducive to sitting outside on a picnic blanket so we scampered over to the tea rooms for hot chocolate and a large slice of home made cake - yummy - a nice treat after a brisk walk on a chilly Sunday morning.  

We were definitely left with the feel good factor that not only had we had a very pleasant walk and the chance to met some new people,  we also had the opportunity to raise the profile of the Love Your Hospital charity and generate some much needed funds for our local hospitals.