For the past year or so I had planned to walk from London to Canterbury this Easter break. It was all planned out with annual leave booked, route planned, accommodation reserved, even a homemade walking staff ready. Of course it was cancelled because of the need to stay home during the Coronavirus crisis.  

I'm aware that home is not a safe place for everyone, and more than 2 million people experience domestic abuse every year. After several days of discernment (and practice) I have decided to attempt to do the same distance (80+ miles) on a manual treadmill, in my front room (and balcony when I can), as a fundraiser for an organisation providing refuge for people for whom home isn't safe.   

I'll walk in 20 minute bursts of a mile each (at 3 miles an hour) with a short rest in between each one, beginning from my house in Peckham near the Old Kent Road (which is on the route) and 'arriving in Canterbury' on Easter Monday. 

Please sponsor me! I hope the physical side will be OK but it's likely I'll need the mental focus to keep going! 

The plan

Friday 3 April: Home to Shooters Hill, 5.6 Miles, 2 hours, 6 sections

Saturday 4 April: Shooters Hill to Erith: 6.5 miles, 2.16 hours, 7 sections 

Sunday 5 April: Erith to Darenth: 7.5 miles, 2.5 hours, 8 sections  

Monday 6 April: Darenth to Otford, 10.5 miles, 3.5 hours, 11 sections

Tuesday 7 April: Otford to Wrotham, 5.8 miles, 2 hours, 6 sections 

Wednesday 8 April: Wrotham to Halling, 7 ¼ miles, 2 hours 45, 8 sections  

Thursday 9 April: Halling to Aylesford: 4.8 miles, 1.6 hours, 5 sections

Friday 10 April: Aylesford to Harrietsham, 11 miles, 3 3/4 hours, 11 sections  

Saturday 11April: Harrietsham to Boughton Lees, 11 miles, 3 ¾ hours, 11 sections

Sunday 12 April: Boughton Lees to Chilham, 6 miles, 2 hours, 6 sections 

Monday 13 April: Chilham to Canterbury, 7 miles, 2.3 hours, 7 sections  

Why I am fundraising for LAWA 

The Coronavirus Crisis  public health crisis is hurting the most vulnerable, including women who are trapped in abusive relationships and cannot leave their homes. It is also affecting people living in refuges but who have lost their jobs. There are particular challenges for people who cannot access public funds (usually people born abroad) for whom getting even basic support is even harder. 

Latin American Women's Aid refuge supports migrant women escaping domestic abuse. They are needing to dip into their limited resources to provide residents with the essentials they need to live dignified lives, and to increase access to their digital and online channels to provide support for women when it is not safe for them to pick up the phone and make a call.  

How your donation will be used: 

Your gift will go directly into supporting Latin American and other minoritized womxn fleeing gender-based violence in two ways.

Firstly, it is taking an extra £1060 a week to keep our two refuges – that’s 14 families in total - running. From providing food, drinks and sanitary products, to contributing to the rent, electricity and phone bills.

Secondly, it will help expand our advice service, providing a lifeline to women who women who may be trapped with a perpetrator, unable to leave the house or make a phone call, in particular the purchase of new mobile handsets so our adviceline workers can provide advice in the safest ways – through WhatsApp and mobile chat.