Donna and Steve's Charity Walk
Emails from the walk
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Email dated Tuesday 2nd July: The journey begins ….

Hi there,

Well, the time has come to don the walking boots, load the packs and
re-familiarise ourselves with living in a 'cloth house' (i.e. tent) for the
next three months.

For those of you who do not know, we are about to walk the length of the UK
unsupported. We will leave from Land's End (bottom of England) on Wednesday
3rd July and will hopefully arrive at John O'Groats (top of Scotland)
sometime in late September.

We will be raising funds for an English children's charity called the
National Society for Protection against Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). The
charity works to fight child abuse - be it physical, emotional or sexual or
neglect through various programs and campaigns. Any donation would be
absolutely fantastic! (Just email us on donandsteve@hotmail.com).

I have also attached a copy of our itinerary for those who might be
interested in joining us at any stage along the walk (company would be
great as we are bound to run out of conversation!).
We can be contacted on our email address:
donandsteve@hotmail.com
and on the mobile:
07947 584675
or
+44 7947 584 675
if you are calling from outside the UK.

We will keep you posted with updates along the way and
hope to see you (if in the UK)
or hear from you soon.
Gossip is always a winner as it helps to
pass the time!

Take care,
Donna and Steve.
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Email dated Friday 5th July 2002 : The journey continues .… through the rain …..

Hi All,

Day 3:

Typical English summer. We are sunburnt and the tent is flooded. Figure that out!
Blisters everywhere imaginable. Already sent clothes back to London (packs too heavy).
Have just bought copious amounts of every type of waterproofing product known to man.

The fundraising is going well - Grand total of £1.40 - that's about 4 pence per kilometre.
(For those in Australia, that is probably enough to buy a new house.)

If anyone would like to help us to boost up the grand total, we would love the support.
Donations (by cheque) can be sent to:
The NSPCC c/o Stephen Hughes, Weston House, 42 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3NH.
Info on the charity is at http://www.nspcc.org.uk.
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Note from Francis Glenister :
If anyone wishes to boost the funds sent to the NSPCC then
send monies/cheques payable to me:
Francis Glenister, 48 Faircross Way, St. Albans, Herts AL1 4SB, England
Tel : +44 (0)1727 850727 (H) +44 (0)20 7986 3180 (W)
I will add at least 50% to any contributions paid this way.
I did this with money raised for Whizz Kidz when
Donna and Steve cycled across Australia.
Call me if you want to know more.

Back to Donna and Steve's email …
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Alternatively, Stephen Hughes can send you a group sponsor form
that you could distribute around work.
All that it would mean is collecting money and writing the sponsors details
on the form so that Stephen can issue them a receipt for tax purposes.
You can email him on SHUGHES1@NSPCC.org.uk
Thanks!!

Tomorrow we are off to ummm, somewhere past St Ives.
Somehow the itinerary got lost but we'll figure it out.
Thanks to all of you who wrote to tell us about the itinerary
and thanks for the general updates.
It helps the motivation hugely whist tramping through the mud, cow dung and rain.
Much appreciated!!

Ok, we'd better go and waterproof the tent and jackets,
and refuel with yet another Cornish pastie.

Hope you're all happy and well. Hope to see the UK contingent on the walk soon,

Love Don and Steve.
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Email dated Wednesday 10th July 2002: ... and the rain has stopped ... but for how long?

Day 7: Wednesday 10th July 2002

A beautiful sunny and relaxing REST DAY!

Once again, thank you to those who have sent messages
- very motivational and supportive.

Here we are in Padstow - a seaside town in Cornwall with plenty of Cornish
pasties, Cornish cow pats and Cornish drizzle
(not that it is drizzling at the moment).

All is well. The ultralight tent has been re-waterproofed with four square
metres of heavy duty canvas making it the heaviest ultra light tent known to
mankind. We can now safely take it deep sea diving as well.
At least we are dry.

The weather has not been too bad and the scenery magnificent - little
villages, hedgerows, cobbled streets, warm English pubs and cream teas.
Mmmm - lovely.

The fundraising has also picked up - now reaching a grand total of a
whopping £30. Not bad eh? That is enough to buy six Cornish pasties or three
pints of Speckled Hen or enough canvas to cover a whole campsite.

You may have received a sponsor form from Stephen Hughes at the NSPCC.
Obviously the support would be lovely, but please do not feel overly pressured.
This is just the easiest way to do it if you do want to contribute to the NSPCC.
Unfortunately, the charity is not tax deductible in Australia.
Thanks for your support so far.

We are now down to one blister patch and more 'stuff' has been sent back to
London. Soon we will be hiking in our underwear as it is the most
lightweight clothing and dries quickly in the rain.
This way we can also manage to carry the ultralight mountain tent
- appropriately named because it weighs as much as a mountain.

Hope that you are all well (wherever you are) and
look forward to hearing from you soon,

For those in the UK:
Seriously think about joining us for a day or so
-it's well worth the effort!
See the web page that details our approximate itinerary and
choose which section you may like to see with us.
Please be sure to call us on the mobile to arrange to rendezvouse.

Love Don and Steve.
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Email dated Friday 19th July 2002: Pints in the sun ...
Day 16: Friday 19th July 2002

Hello,

The mood has shifted substantially with sunny days, blue skies, beautiful
scenery, scones, pints and less blisters. (Hooray at last).

We are in Dulverston (Somerset) just out of Devon. The last week has been
spent with the lovliest people who have on numerous occasions 'saved us'
from despair with food, shelter and the local pub.
In addition, Mat (a friend from Australia) has joined us and has had nothing
but sunny weather. (I think that he thinks that our stories were made up).
We are a bit concerned that when he leaves things will go to pot.

Thanks again to everybody for their support. We head off towards Wales in
the next week for more hills, more sheep and hopefully more sunshine.

Ahhhh, all is well.

Take care,
Don and Steve.
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Email dated Tuesday 30th July 2002: Over the Severn and into Wales ...
Day 28: Tuesday 30th July 2002

Finally in Wales and it's a heat wave! This might sound good except that we
were sweating along expecting a refreshing shower and washing machine only
to find only one campsite that consisted of a paddock with no facilities
other than the big facility that the cows were using (i.e. the paddock).

After 48 hours with no shower and wearing recycled clothes we walked into a
busy little town (Monmouth) and cleared the street!

All is well though. Having a rest day here and enjoying the summer weather
while it lasts.

Mat has left us after seven days of fun, laughter and good old English pubs.
We are now watching the beer intake as finishing this walk with a beer gut
was looking likely while Mat was here!!

Hope that you are happy and well and enjoying work.

Love Don and Steve.
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Email dated Saturday 17th August 2002: Over half way ...
Day 45: Saturday 17th August 2002
Glenridding - Lakes District

Hi All,

For those of you who are closely following our itinerary, you may suspect
that we caught a bus along the wrong route to find ourselves here. But......
another explanation is that of bigger blisters, aching feet, sore ankles and
swollen knees (and a cracking pace!).

Once again, the Brits have been amazingly hospitable. We spent a lovely
weekend in posh Lymm with friends that we actually knew for a change as
often complete strangers are offering tea, dinners, warm beds and
fluffy towels (to Donna's sheer delight!)

Only two more days in England and then we cross into Scotland through
Carlisle and onto Glasgow (to stay with more friends). It may seem like we
have lots of friends but in fact we only have three but have to walk the
length of the country before even they are prepared to put up with us.

We should be in Glasgow around the 25th - 27th August and then the next week
will be spent on the West Highland Way to Fort William. For those of you who
were keen for a good walk, here is your chance!!

The weather has been sparkling except for the two days of unrelenting rain.
At least we get to use our waterproofs I suppose....

Hope to hear from you soon and once again, enjoy work.

Love Don and Steve.
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Email dated Sunday 25th August 2002: The Scottish Hills await us ...
Day 53: Sunday 25th August 2002
Glasgow

Hi,

HOORAY! Real coffee at last!

Finally, we crossed the border near Carlisle into Scotland. The last two
weeks have been quite challenging having covered 250 miles (400 km) in total
(average 23 miles or 35km a day). Exhausted.

If you are wondering how you can do that without having really sore feet,
then the answer is that you can't!

In that time, we've spent four consecutive nights camping in between a
motorway, an A road and a railway. Serenity. An added bonus was powerlines
as well - when we were really lucky the campground was close enough to hear
the humming radiation in between passing trains.

Last night was particularly special as the WHOLE of Glasgow was booked out
for accommodation. We ended up talking our way into a B&B. What was rather
unusual was that we slept on the floor of the dining room in the B&B. Ahhh.
Such luxury! It's sad how a piece of carpet can seem so appealing after 26
miles of walking!

All is not bad however. Once again, we find ourselves staying with friends
in Glasgow and the Scots are proving to be just as hospitable as the
English.

Now with 14 more days of walking, we are about to start the West Highland
Way and then walk along Loch Ness. First, we need to arm ourselves with
midgie face nets and repellent.

Hope that all is well with you. We didn't really get any offers from anyone
to come and join us from the last e mail....wonder why????

Enjoy work,

Love Don and Steve xox
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Email dated Monday 9th September 2002: The finish line is in sight!
Day 68: Monday 9th September 2002

Alas, the finish line is in sight!

For those of you who were asking,
we expect to be at John O'Groats between
1:00 and 2:00 pm on Wednesday 11th September.

We are currently 56 miles from the finish and
both very tired and very sore.
This is nothing that a good sleep, a few fluffy towels and
a solid rainproof house won't fix!

Hope that you are well.
Must run.

Love
Don and Steve
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Email dated Wedneday 11th September 2002: Mission Completed!
Day 70: Wednesday 11th September 2002

HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY!

After 70 days on the road and some 1,100 miles (1,800 km) we finally
reached the finish line at John O'Groats. The relief and exhilaration of
seeing the sign at the end defied description. The first injury for the
whole walk occurred when Donna ran around the sign with a full pack on
and hurt her foot!

The excitement the night before felt much like Christmas Eve and we made our
earliest start ever of 6.30am on Wednesday.
For those of you who came and joined us for stages of the walk, thank you -
your support was tremendous and the laughs were much appreciated!

For those of you who kindly donated funds toward to NSPCC (National Society
for Prevention of Cruelty to Children), thank you also. When we have a final
figure of how much we raised, we will let you know. If you still wish to
donate, please do! Either contact us or Stephen Hughes on
SHUGHES1@NSPCC.org.uk at the NSPCC.

Finally, a special mention to those of you who were generous and trusting
enough to help us out when we were stuck by either providing us with a bed,
a meal, a cup of coffee, fluffy towels, directions or even just a friendly
chat and a laugh - thank you.

Despite all of the whinging and moaning about blisters and pain, the walk
was well worth it and the UK is the most spectacular place to see on foot.
That being said, the plans for now are to stick the walking boots in a
corner and joyously watch the onset of mould.

Take care,
Don and Steve.
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