The Varsity March is an 80 mile / 129 km walk between Oxford and Cambridge, completed in under 48 hours without any sleep!

 

Participants: Simon Cottrell, Bernhard Elsner, Marc Fiedler, Matthew Ford, Valérie Malard, Yifan Huang, Patricia Hutchinson, Alan Iwi, Olaf Kähler, Usha Kanagaratnam, Etienne von Lavante, Ernest Li, Kevin Meng, Chris O'Neill, Jaimini Patel, Steven Smith, Nigel Taylor, David Waszek, Min Wu, Dylan the Sheep, Geraldine the Penguin

 

The walk took place on the weekend of 25th-26th June, starting at Oxford at 10.30 am on Saturday and finally arriving in Cambridge at 3.30 am on Monday morning. Walkers from both Cambridge University Rambling Club and Oxford University Walking Club took part, with the whole walk miles being completed by Marc, Matthew, Yifan, Alan, Chris and Steven.  The initial 23 miles to Aylesbury was set as the primary target for all walkers and this section was completed by 18 people.  A selection of photos are available here.

 

It's not too late to sponsor us!  If you'd like to make a donation, just click on the Donate Now button!  This is our page in support of the Gatehouse charity in Oxford; please also visit our page in support of Jimmy's Night Shelter in Cambridge.

 

Message from the Gatehouse:

 

The Gatehouse is a project that wecomes homeless people and provides a place where dignity, companionship and refreshment can be found in a warm and safe environment.  We especially welcome your support this year, because our landlord has given us notice to leave the Northgate Hall where we have run our drop-in café since 1991.  We are going to be moving back to St Giles’ parish rooms where we started up over 20 years ago, but before we can move in, the building has to be totally renovated.

 

The Gatehouse has launched an appeal to cover the necessary renovations, adaptations, moving and rental costs. We anticipate that the cost of the move will be around £175,000.  We need to raise this money urgently because we would like to start the work in the summer and move before the end of this year.

 

Thank you for helping the Gatehouse to move home.

 

www.oxfordgatehouse.org

 

For more information please contact Andrew Smith, 07773333728, or, Catherine House,  ghappeal@gmail.com

 

“The Gatehouse has got me back on my feet.  I have been using the service on and off for eight years now and it has always been there for me. It gave me food, clothes and access to the Internet, which has helped me find volunteer work around Oxford. I owe so much to everybody here and it is so important that new premises are found soon so more homeless people can get support.”

Jayson, a Gatehouse guest