HUNDREDS of women walked around a racecourse in aid of a North-East charity at the weekend.
About 600 women took part in the inaugural midnight walk at Sedgefield Racecourse, in County Durham, for Butterwick Hospice Care.
The walkers covered 5,000 miles between them, by completing either six or 13.5 miles around the track, from midnight on Saturday into the early hours of Sunday.
The event raised £64,000 for the charity, to care for children and adults at its hospices in Stockton and Bishop Auckland.
Among those taking part were television presenters Dawn Thewlis and Pam Royle.
Ten-piece band American Soul Messenger kept morale up by playing throughout the walk.
Organisers said it was a terrific event that participants were proud to be part of, particularly as many had a personal connection with the hospices.
The charity provides free palliative and respite care and support to seriously ill people and their families, at a cost of more than £3.5m a year.
Barbara Fountain, fundraiser at Bishop Auckland, said: "I'd like to thank all the ladies who took part for making the evening such a fantastic success.
"The Midnight Walk is the biggest event in Butterwick's history and that is all because of 600 amazing ladies.
"Butterwick Hospice touches the lives of hundreds of families across our region and we were delighted to receive their support on Saturday.
"We must also thank Sedgefield Racecourse for hosting the event and all the companies who sponsored it."
A film about the walk and the hospice's work, by Pam Royle, will be shown at 6pm today, on Tyne Tees Television.
