The Commonwealth Games are fast approaching this year and are adding to a year of celebrations, following the recent Platinum Jubilee events. A large part of the games is the Queen's Baton Relay, which began over 10 months ago with many Batonbearers journeying across the Commonwealth.
The Queen's Baton will travel through our region on 14 and 15 July, culminating in the final stretch through Gateshead and then finally on Newcastle Quayside. One of the Batonbearers is local man Dennis Hewitt from Birtley, an avid supporter of St Oswald’s Hospice in Gosforth.
Dennis was intrigued from the moment he caught wind of the event, he said, "I l ooked at the criteria, have you done any work with sports, charity, arts, media, film, TV? Tick, tick, tick, tick, I’ve got to do this. So my brother Alan nominated me and I thought, I’ve got to stand a chance.”
“As soon as I got the acknowledgment I thought, right, I’ve got to do something with it. The hospice was the first thing that came to mind. I love being involved in sporting events and challenges and I wanted to raise money for the Hospice through this incredible opportunity."
Dennis has supported St Oswald's Hospice through various fundraisers and mass participation events since it first opened its doors in 1986. He is a member of the coveted All Runs Club, an honour bestowed to those who have participated in every Great North Run since its inception in 1981.
“I’ve been raising money for the hospice all this time, I do the Great North Run every year with the All Runs Club, and every year I’m sponsored for the hospice. But with doing it every year it’s hard to get sponsors, you know."
"I thought this is something different, the Baton Relay is not something that comes along every day," said Dennis, “I like to raise money for charity whenever I can."
Bethany George, one of the fundraising coordinators at St Oswald's Hospice praised Dennis' efforts, saying, "A ll the money that Dennis raises every year will go towards helping all of our children and adult patients within the hospice. It will be supporting both them and their families who use our services here.”
“There is the trophy that he got a few months ago at our Life List Awards event. That is just for his incredible help and support over the past few years,” Bethany added, “he’s just been a star to us and obviously, we’ve always loved working with Dennis. He’s just a really, really lovely supporter and we’re always excited to see what he’s got up and coming.”
If you’d like to see Dennis complete his section of the run, he will be carrying the Baton on Friday 15 July, starting at 16:42 from 674 Durham Rd, Low Fell, Gateshead NE9 6JA, and will finish at 599 Durham Rd, Low Fell, Gateshead NE9 5HA.
Dennis is raising money for St Oswald's Hospice through a JustGiving page which can be found here.
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