ARR, me hearties! It’s time to borrow your aunty’s pet parrot for the Oxford Moonlight Stroll.

This year’s event is taking on a pirate theme to raise funds for Sobell House hospice charity.

Organisers aim to sign up 1,200 walkers to raise more than £100,000 for Sir Michael Sobell House hospice, in Headington.

Sobell House fundraiser Kevin Game said: “The stroll is the charity’s biggest annual fundraiser and has raised more than a quarter of a million pounds since it began.

“This will be the fifth annual Moonlight Stroll and everyone between the ages of 12 and 102 is invited to take part.”

The nine-mile walk, called A Pirate’s Paradise, starts at 10.30pm on Saturday, July 9.

It will follow a route through the city’s streets, starting and ending at St Edward’s School in Woodstock Road.

Last year’s event saw 1,039 people follow a witches and wizards theme, which Mr Game said was a “fantastic success”.

He added: “Everyone loved dressing up, so we thought we would give them something different to get their ‘hooks’ into this year.

“We are hoping there will be plenty of parrots, peg legs and eye patches on display.”

Sir Michael Sobell House hospice, based at the Churchill Hospital site in Headington, is celebrating its 35th year of offering care and support in Oxfordshire.

It provides palliative care for people with life-limiting illnesses throughout Oxfordshire.

Hundreds of patients and their families benefit from a wide range of services.

The hospice offers expert medical treatment, complementary therapy, community nursing and bereavement counselling.

The service is free, but the hospice relies on funding to covers its annual costs of more than £3m.

For more information and to sign up, visit www.oxfordmoonlight stroll.org.uk or call 01865 857007.

dwaite@oxfordmail.co.uk