On Monday 30^th of August, Holly’s Angels took on the Dorset Plane Pull. The challenge brought together 20 strong women, many of whom were employees from New Hall Hospital, Salisbury. The challenge aimed to raise as much money as possible for the Hospice in memory of Holly Beckley. Salisbury Hospice supported Holly for over a year, during a particularly difficult part of her illness, by providing her end of life care.

 Louisa Parker, team leader had the following to say about the challenge.

 “I saw a post on Facebook for Dorset Plane Pull, advertising for teams of 20 people, to quite simply pull a Boeing 737, sounds like fun, so I set about getting a team together of women only. I took the idea to New Hall, where I was reminded about Holly’s Legacy, which was set up by one of our staff members to raise money for the Salisbury Hospice.

Holly was a staff member at New Hall Hospital, I worked with her during her employment. She was the funniest person I know! She was kind-hearted, always had a smile on her face and above all so was so glamourous and adventurous. Anyone that met Holly couldn’t help but like her. Holly, unfortunately, got cancer and all that knew her were extremely shocked that it could happen to someone as lovely and as young as Holly, she had so much to live for.

So my challenge began, could I get 19 women from New Hall to come together to pull this rather large plane? Well, I did get quite a few team members from New Hall, I also roped in my neighbour, my daughter, one of my husband’s skydiving buddies, and a friend I only met last year through riding. Other team members included ex-New Hall staff and their family, co-workers of Holly and existing staff members from New Hall. I had succeeded in recruiting the team, now just to pull the plane!

We were all excited and dare I say it a bit nervous, we were kitted out in t-shirts supplied by Salisbury Hospice Charity and girls pink gloves, I brought for the pull.

The thing I loved most about this, was that here we had a team of ladies whose ages ranged from 16 – 50 years young, we did not know each other, even I did not know every team member, not everyone knew Holly, but these ladies gave up their bank holiday Monday for one of Lou’s crazy ideas that brought us all together. Holly’s Angels was a team of unique strong women doing something out of their comfort zone. There was no training but we did it, we pulled a Boeing 737! We were the only team at the event, which was just women, we wanted show our strength, in honour of how strong Holly was right until the end.

I am incredibly proud of every single member of our team, it was an emotional day for me, thinking back to the work the Hospice does every single day for those unfortunate enough to have to use it. It is a beautiful place, calm, welcoming, friendly, clinical without feeling clinical, the staff do an amazing job and I just wanted to show our appreciation for the work they all do.

The hospice team supported us all immensely and Holly always felt that the hospice was her second home. Holly was a strong woman and continued to stay strong throughout her treatment which made it even more important that Holly’s Angels were just that, a team of strong women. Thank you Salisbury Hospice.”

We are so incredibly grateful for the efforts of Louisa and this incredible team of females. £3,000 will go a long way in helping fund the vital services provided by the hospice to our local community. Go girls!

New Hall Hospital is a local business, part of our 40 4 40 club. The club invites 40 big-hearted businesses to come together and jointly raise £40,000, in support hospice care in Salisbury and surrounding areas.

Joining the 40 4 40 Club is a fantastic way to show your company’s commitment to your local community, we need your help now more than ever! For more information on 40 4 40, please email [email protected].