Well, the task was completed by all, full distance and on time!  See photos of the weary bunch.  An enormous thanks to all who donated.  While we did not get to our very ambitious target, 2 local pubs are hosting events for us which I am assured will exceed the target by miles, especially if we can get some drums from Roger Taylor and perhaps an item of clothing from Cheryl Cole to auction......Gary.

Task: Walk the 95mile West Highland Way in 6 days over the Scottish Highlands

Who: Gary, Sarah, Cathy, Ross, Tyrone, Maria

When: May 29 2010 to June 3 2010

Why: Raise funds for Community First Responders, Puttenham

With my City suits gathering dust in the wardrobe, many people have been asking me what I have been up to recently. Well, one is being in the start up team of Community First Responders in my village of Puttenham.

CFR volunteers are trained by the South East County Ambulance Service (SECAmb) and are sent to 999 medical emergencies to provide immediate help in their community while the ambulance is on it's way, especially in heart attack and cardiac arrest scenarios where every minute counts.  See the video link on the left which covers a similar scheme in Hampshire.

The idea of the WHW as a challenge for 2010 was born in a Hogmanay drunken haze.  Before we knew it, we had the kids assigned to the grandparents (thanks Dave & Jean) and myself, Sarah, Cathy, Ross, Tyrone & Maria will set off on May 29 to climb up and down Scottish mountains over several days.  OK, so up to 22 miles a day over hills may not seem to be the hardest of tasks (could be regarded as a healthy pub crawl really...), but we are all getting on a bit now and since we haven't lifted a finger yet to get fit, no doubt we will make really hard work of it.  It is, however, a really worthwhile cause for which we would all like to raise some funding.

With the exception of oxegyn and pain relief from SECAmb, CFR teams are completely dependant on public and charitable donations and receive no government or NHS funding.  With Automated External Defibrillators costing in excess of £1,500 alone, a full kit comes in at around £3,000.  As CFR schemes are established and grow, more kits are needed.  Kit being moved around between Responders is a pain, but more importantly, kit in the wrong place at the wrong time could be tragic.  Please help Sarah, Cathy, Ross, Tyrone, Maria and I raise as much money as we can to kit out the Puttenham team and pay for ongoing consumables like bandages, masks etc.  The smallest of donations will buy a piece of kit.  In a recent shout, someone had fallen in the snow and had broken their leg. A disposable mask and a blanket where all that was needed to provide pain relief, warmth and comfort until the ambulance arrived over 20 minutes later.   

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the St John Ambulance who will then route the money to the CFR Puttenham scheme and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please support communities helping themselves and donate.