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Farewell to Stroll fundraiser Paul

26.11.10

AFTER five years of collecting money for Meningitis UK, charity fundraiser Paul Hobbs has his eye on a new challenge.

Mr Hobbs, 61, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, has spent the last 18 years raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for different charities in the South West.

During the last five years he has been on a mission to help Meningitis UK, based in Bristol, during which time he has set up an annual Summer Stroll and raised £92,000.

He has now announced he will step down from fundraising for the charity and has set his sights elsewhere.

He said: "It has been five wonderful years. It's a great charity to work with, they are a great team and will take what is an established event forward.

"It's been a difficult year in which my wife had a major operation and I feel the need now for new challenges to help other appeals before I finally call it a day."

Over the years Mr Hobbs, who has also written a song for Weston-super-Mare, has raised money for CLIC Sargent, Barnardo's, the Royal Institute for the Blind, St Michael's Baby Unit, Spencer Dayman Laboratories, Meningitis Research, St Peter's Hospice, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie, and Tiny Lives.

"It's the end of an era really but I feel like when actors get type-cast in a role, I feel guilty for not helping someone else.

"I would like to thank every single person and company who helped and supported me during the last few years, I have enjoyed every minute."

Steve Dayman, the chief executive of Meningitis UK, said: "Paul has offered tremendous support to Meningitis UK over the years and we're grateful for his time, effort and dedication.

"It goes without saying that the huge amount of money he's raised has made a significant contribution to our vaccine development work.

"Paul has left his legacy with the established Summer Stroll event, which has grown into a really enjoyable and successful part of our fundraising calendar in Bristol.

"His help is going to be sorely missed but we wish him every success with his future endeavours."