DAME DASH Raises Over Over £7000 for Hackney Empire & St. Joseph's Hospice

On Sunday 27 October around 100 people took to the streets of Hackney in an array of pantomime attire to take part in the first ever DAME DASH. The event rose over £7000 which will be divided between Hackney Empire and St Joseph's Hospice allowing these two East End charities to continue their work and support within the local community.

The inaugural DAME DASH was official started by the cast of the 2013 Hackney Empire pantomime, Puss in Boots, outside St Joseph's Hospice at 1pm. The 1km fun run then continued down Mare Street ending at Hackney Empire where a Family Fun Day offered activities including a tea dance, baby disco, refreshments, music and drumming workshops.

The cast of Puss in Boots now enter an intense period of rehearsals before opening the brand new pantomime, written and directed by Susie McKenna, on the 23 November. For more information on Puss in Boots visit www.hackneyempire.co.uk

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.

To post a comment, you must register and login.