A FUNDRAISING walk for a hospice ended with proposal of marriage.

A dozen nurses from Pendleside Hospice have taken on a 30k walk to celebrate the hospice’s 30th anniversary year.

The nurses, who all work on the hospice’s inpatient unit or hospice at home team, put their best foot forward to raise funds for the Reedley-based hospice by walking from Harle Syke to Hebden Bridge and back again.

On their arrival at the finish, auxiliary nurse Debbie Dodd had the surprise of her life when her boyfriend Brandon Dean got down on one knee and proposed.

And to the delight of Brandon and the Pendleside nurses, she said yes.

Dressed in Pendleside T-shirts and carrying oversized flowers representing the hospice logo, the group set off at 7.30am on Tuesday 22nd May from Harle Syke and made it to the finish point at the Hare and Hounds in Harle Syke by 5pm.

The walk, which has so far raised around £1,000 to help support people in Burnley and Pendle living with life-limiting illnesses and their families, was the brain child of auxiliary nurse Diane Richards.

Jill Heaton, inpatient team leader, said: “We decided that we wanted to mark the hospice’s 30th anniversary by doing something as a team and then Diane had the idea of the walk.

“The main reason we decided to do something was to say thank you to all the people who have supported the hospice over the years. We all feel very honoured to work here, and we hope that with the continued support of local people the hospice will be able to carry on its work for years to come.”

Debbie Dodd said: “The day was perfect from start to finish. We were so lucky to have lovely weather and the atmosphere was just brilliant. We made it to Hebden Bridge in really good time and had an hour for lunch before we headed back.

“We were met at the pub by a group of people with streamers and cheering. It was a total shock when Brandon popped the question, it was the perfect end to a fantastic day.”

If you would like to donate to their just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pendlesidenurses30k.