Hello ! And thanks for visiting my fundraising page. I’m doing the 50km sponsored walk from Bazet to Lourdes on Good Friday and Easter Saturday 2008, in the hope of raising £575 which is the fare for a child to be taken on the next HCPT pilgrimage to Lourdes, and would be grateful for your help in reaching this amount.

 I’m a helper with Group 11 (the ones in shocking pink!), and have been going to Lourdes with Group 11 since 1989, but this year two of my colleagues (Jane and Beth) from Group 11 are doing the 50km walk, so I thought I’d have a go at it myself! Rash decision I know but I've booked the flight now.
 
 I don’t do much walking at all normally, but I’ve bought a nice trendy pair of Karrimors and will start practising this weekend!

 I’m looking for sponsor money from anyone who wants to help – just think, if you donate even just a pound, this time next year you can say to yourself, “I’ve paid towards a child’s experience of a lifetime! And the child I’ve helped to get to Lourdes might even come back as a helper in years to come!” Sounds great doesn’t it?

 I’m hoping for money from anyone as mentioned above, but I’ll just quickly ask the following for money while in the mood –

 Group 11 – Jane, Beth, Sophie, Bridie, Hannah and Danny who did the walk in 2006, Julian, Maria, Margaret, Kate, Ria, Bobby, Gabby, Etty, Betty, and anyone else from Gp 11 past and present.

 Lowestoft Group – Martin, Oliver etc.

 Liverpool Group 130 – Martin and family.

 Group 57 – Frank etc.

 Cambridge Group – Fabio etc.

 Peterborough Group

 The Greenies from London – Maureen, Karen, Phil, Shaun, Dion etc.

 Old Boys – Lizzie and Frankie, I'm expecting at least a fiver (each) !

 Brother Ben – good luck with your walk in Feb !

 Work colleagues, especially my EPC claims colleagues, and anyone else who knows me.

 I’ll keep the page updated with training progress – thanks again for looking, and looking forward to seeing your donations for this very good cause !

Frank.

Training diary -

Sun 3rd Feb - I did a ten mile walk today with my wife and children - I told them it would only be 6 miles but we took a wrong turning somewhere and ended up doing ten miles - sat nav is really useful when walking along riverbanks and through fields. No problems apart from sore feet etc but that's to be expected ! Hope to do 16 miles next weekend, again along the river because road walking is just too dangerous round here. 

Sat 9th Feb - we did another ten mile walk today, along a similar route to last Sunday's walk. Joseph took his bicycle along this time - it was quite difficult getting the bike up and down steps along the river, and through turnstiles, but we managed ok. Matthew slipped a couple of times on mud but we got him cleaned up fairly quickly. All in all it was a very enjoyable walk in lovely sunshine all the way !

Sat 16th Feb - we ended up doing 13 miles today because of a wrong turn - we had changed our planned walk to Stowmarket, and decided just to do Needham Market instead (about 10 miles along the river bank). We set off nice and early and made good progress until we went ove to the wrong side of the river at an old mill house between Claydon and Needham. We didn't realise we'd taken the wrong turning until we found ourselves climbing over fences and walking through farms and farmers' gardens ! Thanks to the sat nav and a grumpy farmer we managed to get somewhere back near the river but never onto a proper footpath (because there wasn't one). After walking through more farmers' fields and a horse riding establishment we arrived at Needham Market, and caught the bus home. What a day ! My wife and Joseph didn't go but Matthew and Rogier did. Matthew was getting very tired towards the end but he kept on going like a little soldier - we were glad to get back home that afternoon ! 

Sat 23rd Feb - had a break this weekend.

Sat 1st March - we went to France for the day and after having lunch in Belgium we drove back to France and walked from Bray Dunes to the complex of WW2 German bunkers and artillery posts near Dunkirque, and back again. Total was about 11kms but felt like 20 miles as we walked along the beach (soft sand and strong wind). It was quite strange as we could see Bray Dunes from the German bunkers but it was about 5km away, and walking back towards it seemed to take ages, even though we could see it all the time. We did very well considering my wife had blisters on both feet, and I have an infected toe !

 Fri 21st March (first day of walk) -

Completed the 25km with sore feet at the end !

Sat 22nd March (second day of walk) -

Completed the second 25km but only just - blisters on both feet ! Weather was atrocious. Will give full account soon but have been busy since returning ! Thanks to all you good people for sponsoring me - I will have raised over £300 by the time I've collected it all - enough to pay more than half the fare of a child next Easter. Well done.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: HCPT - The Pilgrimage Trust 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 me now!

Many thanks for your support.