Staff at the Puppet Company pounded the streets of London late at night to raise charity cash in memory of company founder Peter Lockey.
Peter died tragically in 2021 after suffering a brain tumour and the Cancer Research Shine Night Walk Half Marathon was raising cash to fight brain cancer.
The family-run business was formed by Peter Lockey and his wife Sue and she and their children Sam, Katy, Joe and Hannah are all closely involved with the company and supported the event virtually and in person.
Eldest daughter, Katy Rugman, product and marketing director at the company, took part in the event alongside colleague Natalie Latchford, PA to the operations director, supported by friends, family and other staffers at the Puppet Company. They were accompanied on the 13-mile course by Sockette Puppets created by her dad. The puppets, they said, caused something of a stir and even had their picture taken outside Buckingham Palace en route.
“We have been blown away by people’s support and generosity and can’t believe we have already raised over £1000 with more donations coming in
Katy Rugman, product and marketing director Puppet Company
Speaking on behalf of Team Puppets, Katy Rugman said: “We have been blown away by people’s support and generosity and can’t believe we have already raised over £1000 with more donations coming in. We signed up for the event months ago and it crept up on us, in truth we had done no training and had a manic week so this was a real challenge – and one of the best things I have ever done. The Shine Night Walk is an amazing event, filled with incredible people doing what they can to raise money for a vital cause, and reading the messages on people’s tops about who they were walking for was really emotional. We were walking in memory of our amazing Dad, for all our loved ones taken too soon, and to help support loved ones going through treatment. The donations were coming in as we were walking, which gave us such a boost to keep going when it was cold and dark at 1am so thank you all. We have already signed up for 2024 and will be walking with our Puppets again so please say hello if you see us! With thanks from all of us at Team Puppets.’
To donate to the #TeamPuppets page please visit: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/team-puppets
For further details about the Shine Night Walk, and to sign up for 2024, please visit: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/find-an-event/charity-walks/shine-night-walk/shine-night-walk-london
