My story

We are walking 150 miles across southern England, from one Wisden office to another, to raise money for the Laurie Engel Fund (Teenage Cancer Trust).

Laurie, the son of Wisden editor Matthew Engel, died in September 2005, aged 13. His parents, Matthew and Hilary, set up the fund to help pay for a six-bed extension to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where Laurie was treated for a particularly aggressive cancer. His medical care was excellent; the non-medical facilities were dismal.

The extension will allow teenage cancer patients to have some space to themselves – where they can just be teenagers. As well as giving patients more dignity, such wards also increase survival rates.

We set off from Upton Grey (near Basingstoke in Hampshire) at 10am on Saturday 19 May. Our first stop, after a gentle four miles, is the Wisden office at the Golden Pot, near Alton. Or possibly the pub near by.

From there, in the company of an assortment of friends, family and colleagues, we take ten days, walking for between 15 and 19 miles a day, to reach the house in the Golden Valley, south-west of Hereford, where Matthew lives and works, and where Laurie lived and died.

We hope to stride (but expect to hobble) down the Engels’ drive some time after lunch on Whit Monday, 28 May. It would have been Laurie’s 15th birthday. See below for a rough itinerary of where we are when.

Please give us your support by sponsoring us, walking with us or, best of all, both. For more details of the Wisden Walk, please email either hugh.chevallier@wisdengroup.com or paul.coupar@wisdengroup.com. Or visit laurieengelfund.org. If you haven't already seen it, you might also like to read Matthew's profoundly moving piece in The Guardian about Laurie, and about his illness.

If you’d rather send a cheque, please make it payable to “TCT Laurie Engel Fund” and send it to one or other of our home addresses. Please email us if you're not sure where we live.

Thank you so very much for your support.

Hugh Chevallier and Paul Coupar

And oh yes, here's the bald itinerary:

Day 1: Upton Grey - Golden Pot - Dummer
Day 2: Dummer - Watership Down - Ashmansworth
Day 3: Ashmansworth - Buttermere - Ramsbury
Day 4: Ramsbury - Ogbourne St George - Clyffe Pypard
Day 5: Clyffe Pypard - Stopper's Hill (Brinkworth) - Somerford Keynes
Day 6: Somerford Keynes - Sapperton - Painswick
Day 7: Painswick - Gloucester - Tibberton
Day 8: Tibberton - Mitcheldean - Peterstow
Day 9: Peterstow - Hoarwithy - Kilpeck
Day 10: Kilpeck - Kentchurch - Bacton

My gallery 1

My Teams

My company

My charity

Teenage Cancer Trust

Teenage Cancer Trust

Charity Registration No. 1062559

Every day in the UK, six teenagers are diagnosed with cancer. At Teenage Cancer Trust, we understand that cancer doesn’t stop these teenagers being teenagers. We know that young people have a much better chance if they are treated by teenage cancers experts, in an environment tailored to their needs. So we have created specialist units that aren’t like ordinary cancer wards. Everything about them has been designed to give teenagers the very best chance of a positive outcome. And we want every young person with cancer in this country to have that chance.

Donations 123

Well done Harriet Hugh & Paul! Let me know if you

Donation by Graham& Di Morris on 13/07/07

£100.00

+ £28.21 Gift Aid

Donation by kateroberts on 19/06/07

£5.00

+ £1.41 Gift Aid

Donation by Christopher on 17/06/07

£15.00

+ £4.23 Gift Aid

Well done to all of you - fantastic

Donation by Patrick Maxwell on 13/06/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

A deserving cause. We were thinking of you on your arduous walk.

Donation by Charlotte Lynch on 12/06/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

well done chaps

Donation by simon lister on 11/06/07

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

Well done.

Donation by Keith Williamson on 11/06/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

great stuff lads!! well done.

Donation by pyes on 07/06/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

Well done guys. Great effort

Donation by David Smith on 05/06/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

Well done - what a worthy cause.

Donation by Paul & Sarah Barnes on 04/06/07

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

Well done, everyone looked so good at the finish

Donation by Peter English on 04/06/07

£20.00

Sorry not to be able to join you PC. Hope all went well. Talk soon old chap.

Donation by Phil W on 31/05/07

£30.00

+ £8.46 Gift Aid

Donation by Mark Getty on 30/05/07

£100.00

+ £28.21 Gift Aid

Donation by George Dobell on 30/05/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

Well done! Hope the blisters aren't too bad!

Donation by Kate Jamieson on 30/05/07

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

Donation by Matthew Hancock on 29/05/07

£25.00

+ £7.05 Gift Aid

Bravo

Donation by Noel Hadden on 29/05/07

£50.00

+ £14.10 Gift Aid

Donation by Sean Ingle on 28/05/07

£30.00

+ £8.46 Gift Aid

Well done - an inspiration to us all

Donation by Old Nick on 28/05/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

Donation by anon on 28/05/07

£5.00

Donation by Emma John on 28/05/07

£25.00

+ £7.05 Gift Aid

well done!!

Donation by frances dennys on 26/05/07

£20.00

+ £5.64 Gift Aid

Hope it's going well, good luck for the rest

Donation by James and Sasha on 26/05/07

£50.00

+ £14.10 Gift Aid

Go for it all of you. You must be nearly there!!

Donation by Butler on 25/05/07

£10.00

+ £2.82 Gift Aid

Good luck from a dad

Donation by CH on 25/05/07

£5.00

+ £1.41 Gift Aid

Donation summary

  • * Online donations£3,883.00
  • Offline donations£4,400.00
  • Text donations£0.00
  • Total raised£8,283.00
  • Gift Aid£1,037.38

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.