Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I will be walking 2.6 miles every day for 26 days to raise money for Lambourne End.  The reason I'm doing this is because the Centre desperately needs to raise money to cover running costs while it is not able to open (running costs are c. £30,000 per month even with staff furloughed - farm animals still need to be fed, insurance still needs to paid, etc).  I am passionate about the work that the Centre does - when it is able to open, the Centre uses a range of farm, environmental and adventurous activities to deliver personal development programmes to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.  The Centre runs a range of valuable programmes: Short Breaks programmes for young people with additional needs, Alternative Provision education programmes for young people failing in School, Duke of Edinburgh programmes.... For many of the young people who attend Lambourne End, it is at the Centre that they realise for the first time that they can thrive.  Quite simply, the work that Lambourne End does makes a huge difference in people's live, for the better.  It would be a tragedy if the Charity was not able to survive Covid 19.

Walking 2.6 miles every day for 26 days may not sound like much, but I had to walk every day for six weeks after having surgery, and I hated it.  A walk is something I like to do somewhere green and leafy with a friend - walking the streets of Romford on my own?  Not so much.  I find it boring and unappealing, to say the least.  I have planned a regular route from my house that I will be doing most of the time, as I know it is the correct distance, but I have also downloaded an app for my phone so that if I walk somewhere else, I can check that I've walked a long enough distance.

(Full disclosure:  Lambourne End is my employer.  That's not why I think it would be a tragedy if the Charity did not survive the current situation - although, obviously, I'd still like to have a job at the end of all this - it is because I see first hand what a difference the Centre makes in the lives of the people we work with, and I believe it is crucial that work is able to continue.)

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