By James Vukmirovic

Copyright expressandstar

Dozens of people came to Compton Care’s headquarters in Compton on Sunday (September 14) to be part of the Walk for Compton event, a fundraising walk taking in a 4.5km route along the Smestow Valley Railway Walk and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal.

It was an emotional occasion for those in attendance as they wrote down the names of parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends on their Walking in Memory signs ahead of the start of the walk at Compton Hall.

The events village around the front of the hall was packed with members of staff, volunteers and walkers, as well as a selection of stalls where people could get their faces painted and learn more about the palliative care and other services provided by the charity.

There was also entertainment provided by Rock Choir, who sang a selection of popular songs ahead of the event, while members of JD Gyms led those in attendance in a warm-up, including the Mayor of Wolverhampton Councillor Craig Collingswood, who had chosen Compton Care as one of his charities to support during his year as Mayor.

Among those taking part there were plenty of stories shared of the loved ones walkers were walking in memory of, to support the work done by Compton Care.

Karen Evans was there with members of her family to walk in memory of her sister Deb, who died earlier this year aged 57 of cancer.

Ms Evans said Compton Care had gone above and beyond to help her sister and also give her family their lives back and spoke of how important it was for charities like Compton to be around to help people.

She said: “In the last stages of her illness, she couldn’t control the pain and we were all her carers, including her sons and daughter-in-law, and Compton stepped in and just took over the care so that we could be a family and we could spend some quality time together.

“She came and was an inpatient here for about four weeks and, in that short time, they had her pain under control, she had massages and the staff and care she received was absolutely top class, even including the food as she had lost her appetite, but she ate here because she could have anything she wanted.

“Walks like this are absolutely vital, although it shouldn’t need to be this way as Compton shouldn’t need to look for that sort of funding and should be funded properly, because this is specialist care and if you can’t get that specialised, dignified care at the end of your life, then when can you get it?

“Compton Care is a wonderful organisation and is always well supported and truly loved by people and when they cared for Deb, they didn’t just care for her, they cared for all of us, so it’s just an amazing place.”

Suzanne Bray had come from Burton-upon-Trent with her husband Kurt to take part in the event, having seen her father Gary Detton given care by Compton Care.

She said: “I’m here for my dad Gary Detton as he was here for a week when he had stage four prostate cancer and brain cancer, which is why I’m also walking for rostate cancer as well, and it is three years down the track now, so I wanted to walk in his memory.

“When we came last year, there was just such a beautiful ambience, with so many people coming together to listen to the music and see all the photographs in the remembrance garden and it’s a really nice walk as well.

“I signed up to the Compton Lottery last year and pay £4 a month, so that all goes straight to Compton and helps fund the palliative care, the nurses, the bereavement sessions and everything else, so it’s just lovely to be here.”

Ahead of the start at 11am, chair of the board of trustees Ros Keeton and service user Graham McLauchlan both spoke about the importance of the event and what it meant for them to be there.

Ms Keeton said: “Today has two real purposes, with the first being about having an opportunity to reflect, to think about and to take time out of their busy lives to think about the people they’ve loved and have the opportunity to celebrate their lives.

“The other part is about support and, for Compton, we need everyone’s support to carry on doing the things we’re doing and, particularly, around helping people from their first diagnosis throughout their journey.

“It’s absolutely fantastic to have this event happen every year as the number of people we get signed up to do this makes a real statement, not just for us as individuals, but for the whole community, and to see people in their colours walking today is a great thing for everyone involved.”

Mr McLauchlan said: “My time with Compton Care started because I was in denial and the Parkinson’s team referred me to the Livingwell Centre, which helped bring back my confidence and fight the disease I’ve got and know that there are people there to support me.

“This charity gets no help other than what people can give, and the support people do is really humbling, so it means so much to see everyone out today.”

The event had drawn support from all over the community, from the Mayor of Wolverhampton to the MP for Wolverhampton West, Warinder Juss, who said he was proud to be there to support the event.

He said: “It’s wonderful to be here because Compton Care do such wonderful work and provide such wonderful care for the people that stay here and for their families.

“I always take the opportunity, no matter how much or how little time I may have, to come and support Compton Care and it’s great to be here to support them this morning.”