Staff and doctors at an Ellesmere Port GP surgery stepped out to raise hundreds of pounds for a good cause.

Whitby Health Partnership (WHP) completed the much-anticipated sponsored walk, held on Sunday.

An eight-week fundraising campaign held at the practice culminated in staff and doctors from the practice leading a sponsored walk around the town. The walk started at 9am from Whitby Park and covered six miles on a route designed to tour the wards of Ellesmere Port.

It was an early start to the day, but the team’s enthusiasm and the community’s support made it more than worth it. Passers by stopped to donate in the bucket collection and cars beeped their horns in support.

The campaign aimed to raise funds for Port Support, a local children’s counselling project spearheaded by the community interest company, Healthbox.

Port Support has been tackling the real crisis in Ellesmere Port – the provision of mental health services for children and is committed to developing and uplifting young people across the town. They needed £10,000 to continue their amazing work, and they had already raised £7,000 before the walk.

The WHP team, donned green clothing and formed a convoy with green balloons to support the project and help raise the remaining funds.

A spokesperson for the Whitby Health Partnership said: “The team at Whitby Health Partnership has been instrumental in raising the profile of this project. Our patients have been so generous and incredibly supportive over the past eight weeks when we have been raising money for the Port Support project.

"Everyone at the practice joined in for the walk or one of the fun activities that we had been involved in, and I know that Healthbox, who are leading this project, were delighted with the support we have shown them.

"We would like to thank Simon and Chris from Healthbox for their support during our fundraising efforts and hope our efforts get them to their fundraising target".

WHP was also joined on the walk by some members from the Ellesmere Port Walkers group and Cllr Lisa Denson of the Westminster ward.

The practice team not only met their target of £500 but exceeded it by raising a total of £750 and would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to everyone who shared the GoFundMe link with friends, family, and their wider circle.

Donations were made at the surgery and by visiting the GoFundMe page, still active at https://www.gofundme.com/f/port-support-sponsored-walk.