We held our annual North Downs Walk on Sunday 11th June. We enjoyed great weather and one of the best results in recent years.
The event is a sponsored walk in aid of Cancer Research UK and the walkers’ own choice of good causes. With a choice of routes from 1 mile (fully paved, therefore suitable for wheelchairs or baby buggies) to 9 miles including a climb up the North Downs, we attracted a full range of ages and abilities of walkers, including Brownies, Air Cadets, keen hikers and Active Retirement Associations. Some 400 walkers had pre-registered and downloaded sponsor forms via the Weald Rotary website and many more entered on the day, making a donation to CRUK.
Early indications, based on the pledges on walkers’ sponsorship forms are that the Walk will have raised about £21,000 once Gift Aid is included, of which about two-thirds will go to CRUK and the rest to causes nominated by the walkers.
Duncan Payne, president of the Weald Rotary Club, said, “This is a great result, and a tribute to the generosity of all our walkers and their sponsors, particularly at a time when many households are facing a cost of living crisis.”
Chas Bedford, chairman of the organising committee paid tribute to the small army of volunteers who acted as route marshals, greeted walkers at checkpoints, registered walkers and sponsor forms, and staffed the kitchen – producing 500 ploughman’s lunches, strawberries and cream, and hot and cold drinks. “A lot of walkers have praised how friendly and professional our helpers were. I want to thank all of them. I also want to thank Family Funeral Service, our event sponsor, who have underwritten all our expenses, meaning that every penny raised in sponsorship has gone to the charities and not to admin.”
Rotary is committed to protecting the environment and, this year, all of the disposable lunchboxes, cups and cutlery were Vegware compostables, and were accepted by KCC for composting. Other waste was separated into categories for recycling, leaving an absolute minimum of ‘general waste’ going to landfill.
Weald of Kent Rotary have been running the North Downs Walk for 38 years, missing only 2020 due to lockdowns, and plan to continue running it as long as there are walkers.
The provisional date for next year is Sunday 9th June.
