Dear Colleagues,

This appeal is unusual for being retrospective, the reasons for which I hope will become clear.

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to walk the Camino de Santiago: the medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in North-West Spain. With my wife’s indulgence, time to fulfil this ambition at last became available when I stood down as MD of Pol Roger Ltd earlier this year.

My ambition was to walk the entire land journey from my home-town of Hereford to Santiago de Compostela, linking up with the Voie de Tours once south of Paris, but when I set out on 7th April I had serious doubts as to whether a lurking childhood back injury would allow me to progress as far as Gloucester, let alone much beyond! Hence my reluctance to publicise my venture in advance, there being, seemingly, every possibility of an early and embarrassing retreat. It was somewhat to my surprise, therefore, that I reached Southampton Water, blistered but otherwise intact, eight walking days later. With confidence restored I then walked for thirty-five days from the Tour St Jacques in Paris down  through Western France to St -Jean -Pied -de -Port in the Pyrenees, and latterly the Camino Frances from St Jean via Roncesvalles through Northern Spain (a further thirty-one days) arriving in Santiago on the 8th July: a total distance of c. 1,250 miles from my starting point and 74 days ‘on the road’. It was an extraordinary and unforgettable experience, packed with people and incidents as diverse and colourful as the landscapes I passed through, interspersed with the occasional thunderstorm of cataclysmic proportions and ravening guard dog intent on a diet of English pilgrim.  I maintained a daily journal throughout my travels and intend one day to publish a longer account.

I will be the first to admit that this was very much a personal journey. As such, I have been reluctant to look to others for ‘support’ in any form. In the past I have looked askance at overtures from friends when I have known that they were going to undertake projects primarily for personal fulfilment, irrespective of any charitable elements attached. I have, however, been persuaded by wiser heads than mine that this attitude is selfish rather than noble, and that I should not forgo the opportunity to raise money for selected causes, on the understanding that such monies will go exclusively to them and not to underwrite the costs of the journey

Accordingly I am writing to ask if you will celebrate the successful completion of my venture with a donation of whatever size, to be split proportionally between The Wine & Spirit Benevolent Society and three other charities , namely Macmillan, Riding for the Disabled and ‘Let’s Face It’, a charity dedicated to those afflicted by facial cancer: its founder, Christine Piff,  won a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Award under Pol Roger sponsorship in the early 1990’s and is one of the most inspiring people I have had the privilege to meet.

Please follow the link below to donate. The Benevolent will retain 55% and divide the balance equally between the others.

With my sincere thanks,
Bill Gunn

A W GUNN MW

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