Six-year-old Georgie has taken part in Ashgate Hospice’s Superhero Night Walk every year and is getting ready to put on her cape once again – this time helping encourage other children across Chesterfield to join her.
Georgie, from Brampton, will join hundreds of young superheroes at Queen’s Park on Saturday 17 October, walking between one and
three miles to raise money for Ashgate.
For Georgie, the event has become an annual tradition. This year, she’ll be taking part in memory of her Nana, Janet Doran, who died last year after receiving care supported by Ashgate.
Georgie adored her Nana, who was a huge part of her life and helped care for her while Georgie’s parents were at work.
“She was my primary childcare and dog care,” said Georgie’s mum Kat. “Georgie absolutely adored her Nana. They were always being silly together, playing and dancing to music.
“She was a legend. She loved her garden, spending time with her friends and, more than anything, her grandchildren.”
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, Kat’s mum continued to live independently, raising her two children as a single parent.
But after becoming unwell again in 2024, she spent months in and out of hospital receiving treatment.
In June 2025, doctors explained that there were no further treatments available to help her. The family chose to move Janet to a nursing home, where she could receive care closer to home.
What the family didn’t realise was that Ashgate’s specialist nurses would support her care in the care home.
“The Ashgate nurses were amazing. They rang me regularly with updates on what they were advising and explained the situation so easily. They were always more than accommodating when they visited,” Kat said.
“Even in the last few days, they explained the changes, which helped us to prepare for what was going to happen.”
The hospice team also supported the whole family.
When Kat mentioned that she was worried about how to explain what was happening to Georgie, she received a call from Ashgate’s Children
and Young People’s team the following day.
The team sent the family resources and books to help them talk to Georgie about death and bereavement, including The Invisible String.
“It’s perfect,” Kat said. “We took it into school and they read it in class too.”
Georgie now remembers her Nana in her own way, keeping a special teddy that was given to her by the family.
“She knows Nana is now an angel in heaven,” Kat said. “She’s there with her Grandpa and our dogs Ernie and Frank, and they’re all together.”
For Georgie, dressing up as a superhero has become one way of continuing to support Ashgate.
“She has completed every Superhero Walk,” Kat said. “She loves dressing up and being a superhero, like most children do, but she understands why she has to raise as much money as she can to help.
“She is so proud to put her cape on every year.”
Last year, Georgie raised almost £500 through her fundraising.
The family has supported Ashgate for many years and Georgie regularly takes part in hospice events. She helps hand out sweets to walkers during Ashgate’s Light up a Life procession at Christmas and cheers on runners taking part in the Redbrik Chesterfield 10K.
This year, she has taken her support one step further by helping to model the new superhero capes for the 2026 event.
Kat said: “She was so excited when Ashgate asked if she could help model the new capes for this year’s Superhero Walk.
“We are all extremely proud to support Ashgate however we can.”
Become a superhero for Ashgate
Ashgate Hospice’s Superhero Night Walk will take place at Queen’s Park, Chesterfield, on Saturday 17 October 2026.
Children aged under 18 can take part for £7, while accompanying adults go free.
Participants can choose to walk either one or three miles, making the event suitable for children of different ages and abilities.
Every participating child will receive a superhero cape, glow-in-the-dark mask and special finishers’ medal, as well as an interactive fundraising pack packed with ideas to help them raise money.
The walk will begin at 5.45pm, with doors opening at 4pm, and finish at 7.30pm.
There is limited availability and no on-the-day registration, so families are encouraged to sign up early.
To sign up for the Superhero Night Walk, visit www.ashgatehospice.org.uk/superhero-night-walk or call 01246 567 250.
Every pound raised will help Ashgate continue providing specialist palliative and end of life care, as well as support for the people important to them, across North Derbyshire.
