James Finlay

Kennet & Avon Canal Kilt Walk

Fundraising for Tartan Army Children's Charity
£3,710
raised of £3,000 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Kennet & Avon Canal Kilt Walk, 21 February 2010
Participants: Jim Finlay, Geoff Isaac, Alan Robb, John Finnigan, Justin Smit, Calvin Morgan, Jon Parker, Scott Hume, Tim Lavery, Phil Marshal, Andy Taylor, JJ Ferry, Sandra Ferry + the 14 year old boys Lewis Finlay and Liam Hume.

Story

The 26.5 mile walk was completed by all on Sunday 25th April.

The day was  a great success. We started the day at 06:45 meeting at the Swan in Thatcham to catch the bus to the start line in Pewsey. We arrived in Pewsey shortly before 07:45 where Jim Finlay gave everyone a briefing on the route and more importantly, the stops.

At around 07:50 the team started the walk along the peaceful Kennet and Avon Canal ( I mean how many other nutters were about at that time on a Sunday morning !!). The walk from Pewsey to Bedwyn covered around 10 miles and Bedwyn was reached by all at around 10:30am. The 2 teenage boys had been seen running to stay ahead of the pack, although they did get lost slightly at the Bruce Tunnel and asked a local farmer (with a chainsaw :-)) which way to go.

At Bedwyn Wharf the boys were met by Lisa Clift who had water and home made yummy yummy Flapjacks in the boot of her car. These went down a treat. A few guys started to feel blisters so did some own repairs before setting off again towards Hungerford where the temptation of the first pint of the day was looming.

Hungerford was reached shortly after 12 noon where Lisa was standing on the bridge directing the team to the pub. In the John O'Gaunt there was a warm welcome and the team settled down to discuss the first 14 mile which they'd just done. The 2 young boys set off before anyone else to maintain the lead they had built up. A few of the other team members did some minor repairs to sensitive areas with vaseline the chosen repair method !!!

Next stop on route was the Dundas Arms at Kintbury which was an hour away. The sun was out now and it was a glorious day for everyone. Fund raising continued with the Naomi House tins along the route, where the public were extremely generous.

At the Dundas Arms, the team were met by wives, partners and kids, and Lisa again. This time Della Smit provided home made Banana Loaf, which alongside the Flapjacks were a walkers dream. Plenty of carbs loaded up and the team were off again for a rather long 6 miles to Newbury.

At Newbury, the young lads were caught by Justin Smit and Phil Marshall who raced them to the door of the Lock, Stock and Barrel although Justin should have known better and in the process seemed to damage his knee.

All the families and partners were already feasting at the LSB which was getting busy. More funds were raised at the pub by Drew and Sandra from Naomi House.

A couple of stragglers decided to not stop at the LSB and walked straight through. Wee Rhouri joined us at Newbury for the walk to Thatcham. 

After leaving Newbury, the team entered the final stretch of the long journey with only 3.5 miles remaining. On arriving just short of Thatcham, we were met by JJ Ferry on the Bagpipes and the young boys who had gone ahead.

We were all piped to the Swan at Thatcham where we were awarded a Kilt Walk pin badge for finishing, oh and a pint too !!!

All in all a very proud day to be raising money for such a great cause. All the team should be very proud of what they achieved.

Well done lads.

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Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. Please read below before donating.

A bunch of us (11 adults, 2 teenagers) are walking 26 miles along the Kennet & Avon Canal on Sunday 25th April 2010 starting from Pewsey, Wiltshire ending in Thatcham, Berkshire. We will be walking at the pace of the slowest person (approx 3.5 mph) and having fun while raising valuable funds.

We will kick off around 8am and end somewhere around 5pm, all in daylight hours.

There are other walks going on in the weeks around this, see http://tartanarmychildrenscharity.org.uk/kiltwalk/ ours is on there too !!!

You don't need to have a kilt or be Scottish to join us on the day, it's a mixed bag already !!

We are walking for the charity below:

Naomi House Children's Hospice in Hampshire http://www.naomihouse.org.uk/

For Naomi House we will be donating to the running of Jack's Place which opened early 2010 and will be used by young people with conditions such as Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, cancer, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy and metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.

Read more on their website but it's such a valuable cause. So many of us are blessed with healthy children, but let's not forget those who need our support.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep into your Sporrans or Pockets and donate now.

 

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About the charity

Founded and administered by Scotland football supporters, TACC's goal is to bring a little happiness and support to disadvantaged children in Scotland and in the countries we visit to watch Scotland play.

Donation summary

Total raised
£3,710.00
+ £611.20 Gift Aid
Online donations
£2,676.00
Offline donations
£1,034.00

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