Ladies Day

Today was Ladies Day at Royal Ascot Racecourse. It's a big event. The Queen attends and the ladies dress in their finery with the most amazing hats they can find. The horse racing is almost secondary to the dressing up and eating.

I was invited by my friend to attend Ladies Day at our local hospice. 250 ladies dress up in their finery with the most amazing hats they can find. The image shows just a small selection of the range of hats and fascinators on show. (see the extra photo for my favourite of the day) They're given food and plenty of drink and the opportunity to bet on the actual Royal Ascot races which are televised in real time.

There are two objectives for the day. One is to have fun and the other is to make money to run the hospice. The first objective is easily achieved everyone went home with a smile on their face and the day raised in excess of £1300.

The hospice is entirely funded by charity. It costs £10 000 every single day to run. It's surprising and shocking to realise that today's event only keeps the hospice going for just over a day. Should the staff of such an essential service to the community have to work so hard just for its very existence?