Charity runners brave Leeds' first bubble rush to raise cash for hospice

But the walls are not usually made out of bubbles.

This is what faced more than 3,000 people who took part in Leeds’ first ever Bubble Rush event at Harewood House at the weekend to raise funds for St Gemma’s Hospice.

The fun runners had to negotiate a 5k course with four bubble stations where teams operating high powered foam cannons blew out 30 cubic metres a minute of frothy coloured bubbles.

And the participants had to negotiate several 4ft high bubble walls.

St Gemma’s Hospice event organiser Charlotte Anderson-Hughes said; “It went really well. We knew it would be a success but there was more than 3,000 people taking part on the day.

“We had 2,800 people pre-register before the event and another 250 on the day.

“The atmosphere on the day was great and hopefully we will have reached our target of raising £60,000.

“St Gemma’s costs £9.7m a year to run on and of that £6.2m comes through our fundraising so we wanted to set an ambitious target for the day.

“The success of days like this is vital to our work.

“We couldn’t do it without the generosity of local people. That £6.2m a year is all raised by the people of Leeds.” The money raised by those braving the bubbles will go towards patient care.

St Gemma’s Hospice, in Leeds, is the largest in Yorkshire and one of the largest in England.

It aims to provide the best care and quality of life for local people with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.