Chaos, Kindness, and a Cameo by the PM: Our Race Across Northumberland!

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This time last week, six teams were frantically racing to reach the final checkpoint of a two-day, low-budget adventure race across Northumberland and Newcastle, all in aid of Hospice Ethiopia UK.

Day 1 kicked off in Ponteland, where teams lined up in the park armed with nothing but their backpacks, paper maps (dated 1991!), green bandanas and a strict £20 daily cash budget. At 9:23am they were off, sprinting in different directions to locate the first checkpoint in Morpeth. The strategies differed from the get go with one team hopping straight onto a local bus, while another managed to hitch a ride in a red Porsche. By the time everyone reached Morpeth, a 1 hour and 54 minute gap had already opened between first and sixth place.

From Morpeth’s flower clock, teams were sent east to Northumberland’s iconic coastline. Clues guided them to precise checkpoints including the Ferryman’s Hut in Alnmouth, Warkworth Castle, and the famous fish and chip steps in Seahouses. Along the way, two teams successfully completed a challenge to win a Newcastle Brown Ale, while three teams fully immersed themselves in the local culture, perfecting phrases like “Gan canny on the road bonny lasses.”

By 5:00 PM, everyone had made it to the campsite in Longhoughton. Tents were pitched, and stories were shared over some questionable low-budget dinners. The “Thompson Old Timers” took the crown for the most unusual meal with their Toblerone sandwiches—now appropriately dubbed “a Northern pain au chocolat.”

On Sunday, the madness reset at 10:00am. One lucky team managed to hitch a lift right outside the campsite with a friendly couple who dropped them directly at Barter Books in Alnwick, the first checkpoint of the day. With its open fires and model trains passing overhead, this quirky bookshop was the perfect place to start the day’s adventures. Teams then journeyed through Rothbury before beginning their final descent into Newcastle City Centre, collecting extra points along the way. One challenge required buying the strangest item possible from a charity shop. Two teams unknowingly bought the matching set of a Winnie the Pooh plant pots collection. However, the ultimate winners, “Wrong Direction,” salvaged a “Howay the Lads” top for just 50p, taking maximum points for cultural relevance and budget-savviness.

As the teams closed in on the finish line, dashing between Jesmond Dene waterfall, Ouseburn Farm, and the Free Trade Inn – they were given one final task. Every team had been handed two bottles of beer that morning; to cross the finish line, they had to find a stranger to help open them and share the drink!

The first proof photo came through from “Wrong Direction,” who were first to make it across the line at the RedHouse pub. Ten minutes later, “The Jess & Kanchen Situation” arrived waving their arms in the air before collapsing onto the pavement after a brutal final sprint down the Quayside, where they had been battling market punters and limping Great North Runners. Over the next hour and a half, the rest of the pack rolled in, each with their own tales to tell.

As if the weekend hadn’t featured enough chaos, we then realised we were sharing the pub with the Prime Minister! He politely agreed to a picture and asked all about our weekend antics and the incredible cause we were supporting.

Alice, Andy, and Jess

A message from trustee Alice: 

A massive, heartfelt thank you! Honestly, by Sunday evening I could hardly string a sentence together. I was so overwhelmed with joy (and that was before shaking hands with the PM). I truly couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. The people who threw themselves into this challenge are a constant source of inspiration and motivation for me. You made this event everything we hoped for and so much more 💚

To our incredible followers and donors: a huge thank you to everyone who tracked our live updates on Instagram. Your messages and cheers kept the teams going. We have now received 73 donations, bringing our total to £1,922.26 (plus £468.75 in Gift Aid)! We are completely blown away by this community’s generosity. This money is genuinely life-changing. It goes directly to supporting Hospice Ethiopia, a non-government organisation in Addis Ababa. Because of you, their dedicated staff can continue providing essential, free home-based care to ensure that terminally ill individuals can die with dignity and free from pain.

It’s not too late to donate – please visit Just Giving

Successful Jane Austen event!

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On a wonderful summer’s afternoon, our dramatic readings from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility took place at Cromer Hall. The audience were treated to a lively version of this classic novel with a script by long term supporter Margy Seale.

The play was directed by trustee Riel Karmy-Jones, starring a mixture of professional and amateur actors who gave their time for free.

Callum Morgan was in the audience and said, “it was a funny, well-paced take on a much-loved classic in a remarkable setting”.


We are enormously grateful to Dido and Benjie Cabbell Manners for giving over their wonderful home for this event which raised an amazing £2,100 to support the work of Hospice Ethiopia’s nurses. 

August sponsored cycle

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On August 12th, brothers Jamie and Simon Mumford will be saddle up for six days – 12th to 17th August – to tackle the Rebellion Way, a 232-mile bike-packing adventure around Norfolk. Following quiet back roads, byways and cycle paths beneath Norfolk’s big open skies, and tracing the legendary routes of warrior queen Boudicca and rebel leader Robert Kett, it’s a challenge as historic as the cause behind it.

We’re doing this to raise vital funds for Hospice Ethiopia UK – a charity that provides free, compassionate end-of-life care to some of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable people. Hospice Ethiopia trains healthcare workers in pain management, supports community outreach teams in remote areas, and brings counselling and comfort to patients and families who have nowhere else to turn. They receive no government funding and rely entirely on donations.

Every mile we ride, every hill we push through, is a reminder that dignity in death should not be a privilege. With your support, Hospice Ethiopia can reach more patients and families who desperately need care.

Please give whatever you can. No amount is too small, every penny goes directly to Hospice Ethiopia UK. Please donate here.

The Big Give 2025

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This year’s Big Give Christmas campaign is now live!

We are hoping to raise £10,200 to pay the salaries of 3 nurses at Hospice Ethiopia throughout 2026.

With your help we can reach our target. All donations large or small will be matched and will make a difference to supporting people who are approaching the end of life in Ethiopia. Many live in extreme poverty and without the care from Hospice Ethiopia’s nurses, may not have any help at all and suffer greatly.

If you are thinking of making a donation to support Hospice Ethiopia’s work, this is the week to do it. All donations made through the Big Give website will be doubled until noon on Tuesday 9th December.

One donation, twice the impact!

Please donate through Hospice Ethiopia UK’s Big Give page

Listen to Nurse Tsegay talk about working for Hospice Ethiopia. Last year’s Big Give appeal funded her and Rahel, a social worker to be trained in palliative care and work at Hospice Ethiopia:

Pride and Prejudice dramatised reading raises over £2,400 for Hospice Ethiopia

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Mr Darcy helped a Norfolk-based charity raise nearly £2,500 for desperate patients in Ethiopia.  Templewood, the privately-owned Palladian-style shooting lodge near Cromer, was the venue for a dramatic reading of Pride and Prejudice on July 27th 2025.  The cast was a combination of professional actors and amateurs, and the audience was treated to live classical music and a cream tea as well as the drama. 

Sue Mumford is chair of Hospice Ethiopia UK, the charity based in Aldborough, North Norfolk.  She said, “What a fabulous venue Templewood is!  We are so grateful to the owners, Eddie and Tina Anderson, for letting us use their beautiful home.” 

This was the third annual Jane Austen event by Hospice Ethiopia, the previous ones being held at Little Barningham Hall and Cromer Hall, and it was another sell-out.  Next year the team hopes to take on Sense and Sensibility – with the venue yet to be decided.    

“The readings are a snapshot from a section of the books,” Sue says.  “Our script writer, Margy Seale, delights in using the original language to create a truly authentic piece of theatre.  They really are great fun – and it’s a brilliant cause.”

An evening with General the Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL

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Hospice Ethiopia UK is enormously grateful to Richard Dannatt for giving a fascinating talk about Churchill and his role in the D-Day landings of Normandy. Through documents and letters from the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, Richard gave the audience a vivid sense of the huge risks involved in the planning and execution of Operation Overlord, the largest land, sea and air operation ever staged. It proved to be a major turning point in the Second World War.

Thank you also to the enormously supportive audience, who enabled us to raise £1,730 through ticket sales and a raffle to support the work of Hospice Ethiopia.

The Big Give 2024

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Many of you have generously made donations in the past that have helped provide care for patients at Hospice Ethiopia. We’re very excited to let you know that Hospice Ethiopia UK has been selected again this year to participate in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2024, the UK’s largest matched funding campaign.
 
We hope to raise £11,500 this year to increase Hospice Ethiopia’s capacity to care for more patients as they approach the end of their lives. We hope to raise enough money to fund an additional nurse and a new Social Worker to the team, but we can’t do this without your help.

One donation, twice the impact.

Donations to this project will be matched for 7 days, from 12pm on Tuesday 3rd December – Tuesday 10th December 2024.  So, every pound you give during that period means two pounds for Hospice Ethiopia.
 
Only donations made through the official Big Give website will count for match funding so put the date in your diary now! 

Successful Jane Austen event raises £1560

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We had a fantastic event on Sunday 28th July with the dramatized reading from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey at Cromer Hall. The actors/readers were brilliant, the musicians fabulous and the high tea scrumptious. As for the setting – it was simply glorious, and we were lucky to have such wonderful weather. Huge thanks to Benjie and Dido Cabbell Manners for letting us use their beautiful home (and for providing a superb lunch for the workers). Massive kudos to script writer Margy Seale and the fabulous cast. Soprano Emma Nuule and her accompanist John Farmer were a delight, as was Jamie Mumford playing incidental music on his recorder. And then, as ever, there were all the background folk who contributed so much hard work – including the bakers, Kate, Rosie, Elizabeth and Julie and Sue, and the very hardworking tea folk, Claire, Julie, Rebecca, Steph and Rachael. And, of course, many thanks to the wonderful people who came and supported the event – raising £1560 in the process, which will make a huge contribution to support Hospice Ethiopia. The money raised is enough to pay for a specialist nurse looking after 100 patients for three months in Ethiopia.

The 2024 Jane Austen event sold out, as did the 2023 one… if you’d like to know about the 2025 event in time to grab a ticket or two, sign up to the newsletter at the bottom of this page.