Walk for the flood victims of Tewkesbury RFC
DW - Determined Walker?
By Barney
December 31 2007
I'm sure many of you will remember the sad deaths of Bram and Chris Lane. They were the father and son who were overcome by fumes, while pumping out Tewkesbury RFC's clubhouse, after the July floods. Bob Fenton (of the ShedWeb forum) and I have come up with the idea of a sponsored walk in their memory, to coincide with the Wasps-Gloucester game at Adams Park, on Sunday, May the 4th.
I haven't yet finalised which charity we'll be supporting. The Lane
family have nominated two, but I think things would be simpler if it
were just one. I'll keep you posted on that, in the next week or so.
The plan is to leave Kingsholm on the afternoon of Tuesday, April the
29th, and reach a club in the Cheltenham area that evening. Details of
exactly which Cheltenham club are being worked on, and will be
confirmed in due course.
After that, the itinerary is:
Wed., April 30th - Cheltenham to Stow-on-the-Wold RFC
Thur., May 1st - Stow to Chipping Norton RFC
Fri., May 2nd - Chipping Norton to Bicester RFC
Sat., May 3rd - Bicester to Chinnor RFC
Sun., May 4th - Chinnor to Adams Park
As with the walk for Matt Hampson last season, we'll be staying at the
clubs en route, and I'm hoping that fundraising events can be arranged.
The distance is between 70 and 80 miles (depending on which route we
take), and we effectively have five full days in which to do it, so it
shouldn't be too strenuous. The Wycombe to Leicester one was around 95
miles, in four-and-a-half days, and that was hard work!
We already have a good contingent of walkers lined up. Anyone else
interested in doing part, or all, of this one: please let me know.
Once we've finalised the charity details, I'll set up a Just Giving site.
Happy New Year.
Barney
P.S. You should soon be hearing about another walk, in aid of Matt
Hampson, in late March. That's being organised by Tigers, and they want
to involve all four EDF semifinalists.
I don't have the final details yet, but I think we'd all end up walking
in to Cardiff together, with Martin Johnson likely to be involved.
Magners have made a very generous donation, and they are also providing a large number of raffle prizes, for the various club functions en route.
Our Community team is giving the walk its full support, and there will be a big turnout at Chinnor, on the Saturday night, as well as some sort of presence at Chipping Norton and Bicester.
Phil Vickery's Raging Bull company has donated a raffle prize, and the Crowne Plaza, in Marlow, has donated a room for two for a night. I plan to auction that, along with one or two other things. There'll also be various Wasps bits and pieces on offer
Bob Fenton has just posted a reminder on the Shed Web, which has prompted another flurry of donations. I'm sure that the reason you've all been waiting is because you were saving, to ensure that your contributions were as large as possible.
I am struggling to get donations but will start to re-ignite interest
R
We should also be joined by the great Dave 'Blisters' Larham. Maybe the threat of posting photos of his legendary blisters might persuade people to start coughing up.
Not a pretty sight!
If anybody does fancy joining us for the Saturday (Bicester to Chinnor), or for the short walk from Chinnor to AP, on the day of the Gloucester game, they'll be very welcome: particularly if they can get some sponsorship!