A MAJOR fundraiser for a Kidderminster hospice has received a welcome boost from the Worcestershire business community.

Kemp Hospice's final ever Midnight Walk event will take place on Friday, June 15 and see thousands of women take on the night-time five kilometre walk to raise money for the charity.

And the event, which has raised around £300,000 in the 10 years it has been held, has seen a clutch of businesses enter teams to support it.

Among those taking part will be Hewett Recruitment, Kidderminster mail order house Engie, Westons Wills & Probate, Cleobury Dental Practice, Ye Olde Seven Stars, Bewdley Medical Centre and First Buses.

Recruitment firm boss Louise Hewett marks 40 years in business this year and has pledged to support charities during the next 18 months to celebrate the landmark.

She said: “It’s in our DNA, we like to get involved with the community and support local charities. We started our business in Kidderminster and strongly support the Hospice movement.

"Kemp is such an important organisation whose care supports so many of us in the local area.’’

Event Fundraiser at Kemp Hospice, Shelley Stanley added: “To have businesses taking part in our events is fantastic and even more so this year as it’s the final Midnight Walk.

"Every year we see women of Worcestershire join us for a really magical night. It’s not just the fundraising, the entertainment or the walk itself, it’s the sense of being together and rallying for a common cause.

"This year will be the final Midnight Walk event, ahead of our 50th anniversary in 2019 and this year we’re going out in style."

This year’s Midnight Walk also features an Adele tribute concert in the forest called ‘Hometown Glory’.

It costs £15 per person and people can register online at www.kemphospice.org.uk, by calling the events team on 01562 756066 or by filling in a form in any Kemp retail shop.