On Saturday 12 October, 50 brave fundraisers took on the challenge of a lifetime and walked over burning hot coals to raise money at the first ever Firewalk for Katharine House Hospice.

The participants went through a 90-minute motivational and training session before taking their 12-foot walk across embers burning at a temperature that could melt aluminium - without any injury or pain.

Gareth Nichols, Manager at TSB in Banbury, took part in the Firewalk, raising £1,000 in the process. He said:

“What a fantastic night! The whole evening was amazing, from the motivational training which gave us all the confidence to walk across the coals, to the firewalk itself. It’s a real privilege to be able to take part in such fantastic events like this for the hospice that does so much for so many people in the community. Not only does it help the hospice, which only gets a quarter of its funding from the government, but it was an inspirational event and a personal challenge for me too.”

Katharine House’s Community and Events Fundraising Manager, Cherida Plumb, said; “The Firewalk was a fantastic evening with music, food and entertainment, and a great crowd of family and friends came out to cheer the walkers on. It costs £4.5 million to provide our services every year, and we only receive a quarter of that funding from the government. The rest – about £3 million – comes from people like you in the community. We simply couldn’t provide care to people and their families in our community facing life-limiting illness without the fantastic support from the people who take on challenges like the Firewalk. A huge thank you to everyone who came out to support their local hospice.”

Photographs from the evening are available to view here.

We'll post the total raised on its website and Facebook page in the next week or so.