Lucy Swannell
Lucy and Liza's 30 Mile Sponsored Walk in aid of the Jim Cronin Memorial Fund
Fundraising for The Jim Cronin Memorial Fund
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Liza and I are walking 30 miles in aid of the Jim Cronin Memorial Fund on the 1st and 2nd of September from Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre in Wool, Dorset to the coast, along the coast and then back again. This fundraising event is part of Monkey World's 30th birthday celebrations.
Monkey World started with 9 rescued chimps from Spain who lived unnatural and distressing lives as beach photographer's props. Because of the continued need to rescue primates from around the world, Monkey World now is home to over 250 primates from over 20 different species. Monkey World was started by Jim Cronin who sadly died in 2003 but his passion and enthusiasm lives on through his wife Alison, best friend Jeremy and all the other dedicated staff. It's a well thought out place where primates can recover from previous trauma by living as natural a life as possible. It's amazing to see, despite what they have been through before, how much they can recover and just be animals again.
This charity and walking with Liza have helped me focus again following the unexpected death of my lifelong friend Sylvia in 2014. Sylvia, along with her husband Alex, loved primates so I decided with Liza's help to do some fundraising for this charity last year. I also adopted one of Monkey World's younger residents, Rodders the chimp (as Sylvia lived in Peckham), and met him on what would have been her 42nd birthday when I visited for the first time last October. It means a lot to have found a place that can soak up the love I'll always have for her.
16 miles on day 1 and 14 miles on day 2 is going to be tough but I know with Liza there, there ain't no cliff steep enough or snack cheesy enough! Just hope Liza can resist the urge to wander off the path into the military land at Lulworth after hearing me talk about Rodders' freckles for the twelfth time.
Thank you for any support you are able to give us. It all goes directly to the Jim Cronin Memorial Fund and world leading primate rescue and rehabilitation.