Fun Walk Festivities

The Billericay Fun Walk is a vehicle for raising money for charities in the district through sponsorship of those doing a Fun Walk of five kilometres or more.  Rotary Club of Billericay has supported this event for many years and celebrates the benefits it brings to those who take part, completing this year’s “virtual” walk in September (See reports in our September and October Newsletters).

What a bonus

So it is no surprise that on Friday night November 14, 2025 at 6 pm, club members President Stephen King, Peter Greene and Margaret Fowler, were all at Canon Roche Hall with most of the other competing organisations, to celebrate the completion of the 2025 Billericay Fun Walk and the “Grand Reveal” of the Bonus Pot.  Thanks to the generosity of the Bonus Pot contributors, this year’s bonus is bigger than 2024 and is 35%.

This means a Total of £121,024.30 (the highest amount ever) had been collected including the 35% bonus, and our Rotary Club of Billericay portion was a total of £3747.  This is a new record for us - didn’t we do well!

Back Again!

The cloakroom and “nibbles” were arranged and served by Air Cadets, and wine and other drinks by volunteers including the Fun Walk Trustees. 

Professor Michael Almond (Deputy Lieutenant of Essex) congratulated all involved for their “outstanding commitment to making Essex a better place for everyone.”  

Although retired as Billericay’s MP, John Baron still remains chairman of the Fun Walk Trust along with other Trustees Christine Brewster, Sylvia Kent and Sandra Bastow.

John led the ceremony and commented “This year’s Fun Walk has been absolutely phenomenal, Each year we are amazed by the generosity, energy and teamwork of all who take part. To reveal such a fantastic total at this Celebration Evening, surrounded by so many of our charities and supporters, is a truly special moment. Our thanks go to every walker, organiser, and sponsor who made this success possible. It would not have been possible without the collective effort of all involved.”

“The generous contributions from our Bonus Pot sponsors boosted the funds raised by participants by a whopping 35%. Our thanks go to Greater Anglia, Brown & Carroll (London), Sanctuary Housing Association, Equi Ltd, One Footstep (The Human Kind Café, Billericay), Butyl Products Group, Tunnelcraft, c2c Rail, Mr Barrie Stone and others.”

Certified!

All the audience sat patiently through the introductions until it was time for the business of the evening, and the news for which everybody was waiting.  The presentation of the Fundraising Certificates, AND THE CHEQUES, to every participant organisation.

John Baron and Professor Michael Almond took it in turns to celebrate each organisation which had participated in the Fun Walk, calling out each organisation’s name in turn in alphabetic order for their representative(s) to come forward.  Sandra Bastow passed their award certificate to John or Michael to present to them.  A handshake, the handover of the Fundraising Certificate, and finally a line up for a photograph to record the event.  Then on to the next recipient until all organisations had been rewarded.
Rotary Club of Billericay (starting with an “R”) was a long way down the list of organisations, but our £3747 was amongst the highest reported, with only a few collecting more, including the highest amount of the event by the Remus Horse Sanctuary at just under £7500 (see above).

We had the pleasure of watching a number of our friends and organisations we support, step up to receive their certificates (also above).

Rev. Margaret Fowler was there on behalf of Christ Church where she is associate priest, to collect her certificate for over £2100, Billericay Food Bank collected their certificate for over £760, Baby Basics collected their certificate for over £2900, and Barrow Farm Riding for the Disabled collected its certificate for over £6,000!. 

Despite having raised the highest total amount for any of the last 23 years, and celebrations still in full swing, organisers are already turning their sights to next year’s event.  Planning is underway, with hopes of bringing together even more participants and raising an even bigger total for local good causes.
For more information, photos from the Celebration Evening, and updates on next year’s event, visit 
www.thefunwalktrust.co.uk

 The 2025 Fun Walk has raised a total of £121,024.30 including the 35% bonus provided by the Bonus Pot Sponsors.  This means that from its inception, the Fun Walk has raised a grand total of over one and three quarter million pounds for local charities and community groups.