Our Intrepid Walkers Meet The Challenge

The Rotary Club of Billericay has supported the Billericay Fun Walk for many years because it helps raise money for charities in the District through sponsorship, with the added benefit of a bonus pot for which our local MP John Baron solicits donations to this bonus pot from local businesses, each year.

An Amazing Achievement

John Baron MP is Chair of the Fun Walk Trustees,and he and his team started the Fun Walk in 2002 to commemorate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and raised £6,000 for six charities and projects. The event became an annual one and continues to grow – the amount raised in 2022 brings the total raised to over £1,450,000 since the Fun Walk’s inception.
John Baron MP said, “We remain truly grateful to the local businesses who have chosen to support the local community through a donation to this year’s Fun Walk Bonus Pot. We look forward to seeing and sharing all the photos of people taking part.”
Last year Rotary Club of Billericay did its walk around Little Burstead and raised over £2,500 in sponsorship including Gift Aid, plus a bonus - a grand total of approx. £3,600.
“Entering a team is a fantastic way to have fun outside, whilst raising money for a good cause.”

Virtually Complete

It may be called a “Virtual” walk, but it does involve a real walk of over 5 kilometres, not a computer simulation.  It’s “virtual” because each group participating had to complete their own walk within September, rather than a “mass” walk of all participants together at Barleylands as in the years before Covid.  
Our Club has done the walk for many years, providing walkers and marshals to help all those taking part to keep to the route.
We decided to return to Little Burstead, the site of our walk in 2022.  When? September 29 to avoid vacations and other fundraising events and because the weather forecast was a dry day, at a warmish 20C. That’s 68F to our older members.  Fortunately, the forecast didn’t change.

Brave Souls

As in  previous years we assembled outside the Dukes Head Pub in Little Burstead.
Who were these brave souls?  President Roger Kettle, Patrick Rothon, Peter and Christabel Strong, Bob Godfrey, and Peter Greene. (Brian Wellman had to drop out because he had caught COVID).  An excellent turnout of six intrepid walkers.
This year we followed Christabel and took the route in reverse sequence, round Little Burstead (passing by Bob’s old house where he and Rose ran their kennels), then across the fields towards Rectory Road and Little Burstead Church.  Thence across more fields to Botney Hill, up Hatches Farm Lane to Tye Common Road, and around Burstead Golf course and through the woods, before ending back at the Duke’s Head.  The fields had been harvested and the going quite tough, the golf course quiet, and the woods were cool.  But Essex is a beautiful county and the views were fantastic.

So To Cooling Down

How far? Just under six kms.! Well done to all.
Two hours in the hot sun! Must be time for some refreshments - so round to the garden of the pub for drinks and food while we cooled down after our exertions.
What have we raised? Well, all the sponsorship is not yet in but we have already raised many hundreds of pounds.