I (David) am walking again in this year's Farleigh Walk for Life as part of a team from the Essex Police Media Department. The team is walking together from Paper Mill Lock which is the halfway point between Heybridge and Chelmsford. Although only half the distance as last year, I would appreciate any sponsors you can afford for our efforts. I'll take some photos again this year and upload them to this page as evidence of the walk. I'll update this page throughout this week with a few details about the team members.
It was exactly 1 year ago that we did a walk from Little Leighs to Chelmsford town centre (see details below).
2009 - Here we go again! Thank you for all your sponsors. The event is now over and we are very grateful to everyone who gave so generously.
Final update Friday June 6, 2008
I have finally got round to counting all the loose change and with a final donation from me for Lauren and Chris' brilliant efforts, we have a total of £430 raised between us. Farleigh Hospice is promoting a sponsored cycle for September - we won't be doing it this year but watch out for us and the sponsorship forms in 2009!
Blog update Sunday May 18, 2008
We did it! The walk was great fun - Lauren and Chris did very well. It was a lovely day after all - perfect for walking. I have updated the route and added some photos to look at. Will write more tomorrow.
Blog update Saturday May 17, 2008
Well, we have packed the rucksack, found the plasters and waterproofs and got a map ready. We're up early in the morning so we get to the start by 8am. Look out for an update on Sunday evening which should include how we got on and a few photos to prove we did it! Early to bed tonight. Well done to Portsmouth - FA Cup winners this afternoon. Thanks also to Thomas, Martin, Liz, Janet and Jane for sponsors.
Blog update Friday May 16, 2008
Better late than never . . . Lauren has brought home a sponsor form full of sponsors from school. Thank you to Bethany, Harry, Andrea, Charlotte, Jane, Georgina, Hannah, Charlotte, Katherin, Georgie and Steph.
Blog update Thursday May 15, 2008
Rain today but still hopeful for a dry day on Sunday. Some more sponsors today - thanks to Morwenna, Pru and Tom.
Blog update Wednesday May 14, 2008
A day off to assist with an infant school trip to Abberton reservoir near Colchester. Great weather for mini-beast hunts, caterpillar trails and pond dipping. Spent the evening battling with the computer to edit and mix some music with Lauren for a performance of Romeo and Juliet next week. The weather forecast for the weekend is now much better than earlier in the week and should be dry and fine for the walk. I now have a decent pair of trousers for walking in so I think we're all set. Any last minute sponsors are warmly welcomed!
Blog update Tuesday May 13, 2008
Work again today. Heather gave me a donation today - thank you Heather! Had a nice meal in the pub while the boys played cricket. Going on a school trip tomorrow - looking forward to that.
Blog update Monday May 12, 2008
Day off today. Went for a walk with Sam around New Hall School which was good - hot but a nice breeze. Looking forward to the walk on Sunday - no weather forecasts as yet but all looks promising for a hot dry day. Another donation from Phil, Sarah, Imogen and George - thank you!
Blog update Sunday May 11, 2008
So hot! Phew. Church this morning - Anna and I had a great time in the creche. Football Premier League Championship finale this afternoon - who will win? Man U or Chelsea.
Blog update Saturday May 10, 2008
We have reached our target of £300 thanks to a very generous donation from Sally. Sally asked how many steps we will take on the walk. My stride measures 30 inches and there are 728,640 inches in the 11.5 mile route so that works out to be 24,288 steps. Chris' stride is 24 inches so he will be doing 30,360 steps - that's 6,072 more steps than me! Chris will be wearing Sally's step counter so we can see the actual steps compared to the prediction.
Blog update Friday May 9, 2008
Hot again with more power cuts at work. Real problems because the back-up generator can't keep up with the demand once the mains power goes off. There will be people working long hours this weekend. S, L & C all at choir practice this evening - P & A in bed.
Blog update Thursday May 8, 2008
More hot weather today - good for drying out the route along the river after a few weeks of rain but there is still time for a last minute downpour to make it muddy. Have been working on a website for a team of police officers from Essex Police who are walking the South West coastal path over the next 6 weeks to raise money for an officer who was injured in a game of rugby. They will be sending updates for the site about their adventures - if you're interested, you can see the website at www.essex.police.uk/coastalpathrelay
I'm not sue if I can keep up blog entries with a walking or charity theme from now until May 18th but I'll try. Had an email today from Debbie DeBoltz from Farleigh Hospice who explained they are aware that the route this year is only 11.5 miles rather than 14. It is because the original plan was to walk to the new Farleigh in Broomfield which would have been 14 miles but we are stopping at Wharf Road for logistical reasons. She said she walked the route on Tuesday for a risk assessment and enjoyed it.
Blog update Wednesday May 7, 2008
Must have been the hottest day of the year so far. Terrible news about the death of a person in an electrical sub-station explosion and fire near to the Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford today. We have been without power since shortly after the explosion but thankfully it was returned at 7pm tonight so the food in the freezer is safe - Chris will be pleased. Saw that Roger Shilling from All Saints' Church is also walking on May 18th - here is his Just Giving web page. Good luck Roger! Hope to see you in the crowd.
I have added some more photos to Flickr - some will show up on the left and you can view the others by clicking on the link. There are a few Chris and I took at Colchester Zoo on Monday.
Blog update Tuesday May 6, 2008
I received a pledge for more sponsorship today - many thanks to Karen for that. Boys at cricket, Lauren at Caprice band practice with Uncle Phil. Received our packs in the the post from Farleigh Hospice. There are our walking numbers (I am 574, Chris is 575 and Lauren is 576) together with instructions on the registrations and general information for the walk. If it is rained off, the alternative date is Sunday May 25th. This is a problem as we will all be on the way back from holiday that day but never fear - in the unlikely event that it is postponed to this day, we pledge to do the walk on our own another day!
For those who are interested, I have plotted the walk from Bentalls complex, Heybridge to the Wharf Road car park, Chelmsford on Google maps. It reports that the route is, in fact only 11.5 miles but if it makes you happy, we'll walk home afterwards to make up the extra 2.5 miles! If your computer is up to it, I think you can import the route into Google Earth and watch an aerial flythrough of the route. Google map - Heybridge to Chelmsford
Blog update Bank Holiday Monday May 5, 2008
Thank you to Peter, Yvonne and Anne for donations this weekend. We are well on the way to raising £300 - thanks to everyone who has donated so far. If you know anyone who may like to sponsor us, please send them the link to this page - every little helps. Bank Holiday Monday but up early again this morning to go to Colchester Zoo. We saw tigers, lions, giraffes, zeedonk, zebra, elephants, snakes, monkeys and lots more. Chris tried photography for the first time and got some really good shots. The zoo is on a hill so Chris was able yet again to test out his new walking boots - so far, no blisters. I cleaned and waterproofed all the walking boots in the afternoon. Back to school/work tomorrow.
Blog update Sunday May 4, 2008
Not up quite so early this morning but still made it to church for Boy Brigade parade service. Went for another walk after lunch - no aches or pains from anyone and Chris' new walking boots fit perfectly. No excuses now. Photos from yesterday on their way but we left the camera in Little Leighs so you'll have a wait for a few days.
Blog update Saturday May 3, 2008
Up early this morning to start our walk at 8am from Little Leighs. The weather was really good as we set out past the church and the lake towards Great Waltham. It was very muddy through the fields and we stopped for a rest in Broads Green to deal with Chris' sore toe. Onwards and we made the halfway mark at about 10am. We reached Chelmsford bus station just a little after 12 noon in time to catch the 12:15 bus back to the start for a lovely lunch. Lauren and Chris did really well and we are confident of a good walk on May 18th. Took boys to the shoe shop to get new school shoes in the afternoon followed by a trip to Blacks in town to buy Chris some proper walking boots.
Update - further checks on our walk via Google Maps shows that we actually walked 10.3 miles altogether. Have a look at our route.
Blog update Friday May 2, 2008
We are looking forward to walking from Little Leighs to Chelmsford tomorrow. We start bright and early at 8am and we hope to get into Chelmsford town centre for about 12 noon. We'll get the bus back to Little Leighs and deal with the blisters then! Thanks again to everyone who has sponsored us so far.
Blog update Thursday May 1, 2008
More donations today on the website from Tracey, Charlotte, Foggy, Nicola and Steve - all from work. Many thanks to you all. Good weather forecast for our walk on Saturday - BBC say it will be sunny and warm. Only 17 more days to go!
Blog update Wednesday April 30, 2008
Lauren and Chris took their sponsor forms to school today. I took mine into work and sent an email with details of this website. I was amazed to receive sponsors within 10 minutes of sending the email! Thanks to Melissa, Denise and Sally for your sponsors.
Blog update Tuesday April 29, 2008
Many thanks to Auntie Catherine, Uncle Allan, Mummy, Grandma, Great Grandma, Sue, Robin and Joanne for your wonderful donations. I only made the page two days ago! We are doing a 'practice' walk at the weekend from Little Leighs to Chelmsford (about 8 miles). Some of the route is along the River Chelmer so conditions should be similar to 'The Big One' on May 18th.
Farleigh Hospice - Walk for Life Sunday May 18th 2008
We will be walking the 14 miles from Heybridge to Chelmsford on Sunday May 18th, 2008; that's my father-in-law Peter, my daughter Lauren and my son Chris. The walk follows the riverbank and should prove to be a great day out for us and the hundreds of others who are also 'Walking for Life'.
David:- My earliest memories of Farleigh Hospice are when I was about 12 years old. My grandma was one of the first fundraisers after the building at 212 New London Road was purchased in about 1981. While the fundraising aimed to raise enough money to renovate and equip the house for in-patients, care in the community was already started. I remember going into the old rundown building and wondering about all the things that had happened there in the past. For more details about what they were, visit www.farleighhospice.org.
The reception room on the ground floor near to the front door was used for regular coffee mornings and sometimes, there were lunches and cream teas served too. The rest of the house was empty and bare but the grand staircase was magnificent and it was great fun to explore the rooms and cellars. I took a set of slides documenting most of the interior at that time - these were loaned to Farleigh a few years later. I don't think I ever got them back so I hope they may one day turn up and remind people about the humble beginnings where it all began.
I also remember the regular sales held in our street by my grandma and her other friends and volunteers. The availability of bargains at those sales caused queues up the front path hours before the sales opened for business!
At about the same time, I organised a sponsored swim in aid of Farleigh Hospice and remember designing the certificates for all those who took part.
It is over 25 years later and Farleigh HQ is now in a purpose-built complex near Broomfield Hospital with other bases in Maldon and Braintree not to mention the massive amount of care in the community which is where most of the work takes place. Thanks for reading this and good luck to all those who are striding out on May 18th to walk for life!
If you found our page while searching for information on Farleigh Hospice or the Walk for Life, why not donate a small amount while you are here? Any amount is welcome; it all goes towards a great cause.
You may be interested to look at the Just Giving pages of some of the other people who are also doing the Farleigh Walk for Life this year:
Alasdair Hood
Sarah Hicks
Angela Oakey-Jones
Bill Fulton
Paige Knights
Chris Backshall
Sam & Ben Leeds
Roger Shilling
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Farleigh Hospice will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor us now!
Many thanks for your support.
