Photo Flash: Hackney Empire and St. Joseph's Hospice Launch DAME DASH 2013 Charity Event

This morning Hackney Empire and St Joseph's Hospice launched the inaugural charity event, DAME DASH with panto legend and Hospice supporter, Christopher Biggins. Biggins was joined on stage by Hackney panto star Kat B, Hackney Empire Creative Director, Susie McKenna and Carolyne Barber from St Joseph's Hospice. Scroll down for photos from the launch!

This 1km fun run will take place on Sunday 27 October and will start at St Joseph's Hospice, continue down Mare Street, finishing at Hackney Empire where the fun will continue with a Family Fun Day at the theatre. Activities will include a tea dance, baby disco, refreshments, music and drumming workshops. All money raised will go towards both East End charities, allowing them to continue their work and support of the local community.

Advance registration is £15 per adult, £5 per child (0-16yrs) and a family rate of £35 is also available (2 adults and up to 3 children). Participants will then be provided with a bespoke online fundraising page to kick start their fundraising efforts. For further details and to register for the event visit www.damedash.org Registration 12 noon; Dame Dash 1pm.

Dame Dash 2013 is the first joint event between St Joseph's Hospice and Hackney Empire, two of East London's best loved charities. Registration for the Dame Dash will take place at St Joseph' Hospice, Mare Street, London E8 4SA. The Dame Dash will launch from the Hospice and it will finish at Hackney Empire, 291 Mare Street, London E8 1EJ.

Public Transport: St Joseph's Hospice - BUS: 26, 48, 55, 106, 254, D6; TUBE: Central Line to BethnAl Green. District Line to Whitechapel; RAIL: The nearest station is London Fields which provides onward connections to Liverpool Street, Walthamstow, Chingford and beyond. Hackney Empire - BUS: 30, 38, 48, 55, 106, 236 (24hr), 242 (24hr), 253, 254, 276, 277 (24hr), 394, , W15, N38, N55, N106, N253; OVERGROUND: Hackney Central (2 mins walk from the Empire) has regular trains linking to the Tube with direct interchanges at Highbury & Islington (Victoria Line), Stratford (Central Line) and West Hampstead and Canada Water (Jubilee Line).

Hackney Empire is a special building in a special place - a unique variety theatre for the 21st century. Embracing both local and global communities of artists and audiences, it is determined to nurture and present work that is at once extraordinary, inclusive, inspirational and transformative. Musical theatre and opera, family shows, music and comedy together with local events and an extensive and inclusive programme of workshops and courses, form the heart of the Hackney Empire's work. Public subsidy provides less than 20% of the Hackney Empire's turnover with the remainder needing to come from earned and fundraised income. Hackney Empire is driven by its core values of Quality, Diversity and Engagement, which underpin everything the Empire does.

St Joseph's supports people and families, not just patients and symptoms. St Joseph's exists to help people live life to the full, to the very last. It has been enhancing lives, easing pain and bringing comfort and understanding for over a hundred years. Nothing can soften the blow of learning that you have been diagnosed with an illness which cannot be cured and will bring an end to your life. But at St Joseph's Hospice we help our patients and those closest to them, to cope with the anxiety and challenges which may arise. The care and treatment available at St Joseph's helps patients live as actively as possible for as long as possible. It also supports the whole person, offering practical, emotional and spiritual help in addition to the medical care. The Day Hospice, social work team, chaplaincy, bereavement and children's bereavement services all work to meet the needs of those with cancer and other life limiting illnesses as well as those of their families and carers. Most people with a serious illness prefer to remain at home if they can. Our Community Palliative Care Team works alongside other professionals, so that wherever possible, people needing palliative care can be cared for in their own homes.

Photo Credit: Sheila Burnett