21
Sep
Highly successful charity walk for Guy Leonard & Company.
Mayfair Office members Guy Leonard & Company have just
enjoyed the most exhilarating and satisfying weekend supporting
Horsham 100 – a fundraising campaign in aid of The Vera Lynn
Trust at Billingshurst. The Dame Vera Lynn Trust provides a
specialist service for the families of young children with cerebral
palsy and other disabilities and is based at Ingfield Manor School
at Billingshurst. Parents and children learn daily living
skills in the most wonderful setting. These services are
provided completely free of charge yet the Trust does not receive
any statutory funding so relies entirely on community support which
is where Horsham 100 comes in.
One of the ways in which Horsham 100 planned
to raise money was to organise a 100 kilometre walk along the South
Downs Way. Guy Leonard & Company decided to get involved
with this but rather than one individual walking the whole distance
they chose to do it in relay. However their mascot, a very
handsome teddy bear, did walk the whole way!
The walk commenced in Arundel at 8.00am on
Saturday 17th September. Karen Loy, Nick Champness and Kate
Batchelor from the Horsham Office set off with Teddy to walk the
first 10 miles to Springhead Hill near Amberley. Despite an
early shower of rain and some muddy terrain they completed this in
four hours and were met at the top of Springhead Hill by Philip
Reynolds and Michelle Betts from the Storrington Office. The
event was run by a company called Discover Adventure who were
brilliant and provided frequent check points in case of problems;
they also provided snacks and drinks for the weary walkers.
Philip and Michelle covered 9 miles of the walk ending at Botolphs
near Steyning. Again they did this in good time taking just
three hours and were met by Cathy Moore and Angie Blunden who then
took up the baton (or should we say the Teddy!) to walk the six
miles to Devil’s Dyke. By this time the weather was
better and after a long climb to the top of the hill Cathy and
Angie had an amazing 360 degree view across Sussex. They
reached Devil’s Dyke in under two hours at which point the
biggest challenge began.
Neil Moore, MD of Guy Leonard & Co, Ian
Gough from Horsham Office and Clive Blunden set off at 6.00pm to
walk for 23 miles throughout the night. At this stage
the organisers insisted upon people walking as a group and Neil,
Ian & Clive were lucky enough to walk with five amazing chaps
who had already covered 25 miles and were planning to complete the
whole distance to Beachy Head. Despite a long and heavy bout
of rain, one slight directional mishap which added two miles to
their walk, blisters and achy legs the eight men and a guide from
Discover Adventure walked throughout the night arriving at
Alfriston at 4.00am on Sunday morning.
At this point Teddy was handed to Andrew
Gardner, director of associate company Amberley House Cottage
Holidays, and his partner Susie. Neil, Ian and Clive headed
home to bed which Andrew, Susie and Teddy completed the final 12
miles to Beachy Head, accompanied by the five, by this time very
weary, men who had walked through the night. All at Guy
Leonard & Company cannot begin to say how impressed they
all were with their stamina and sheer determination to finish the
walk.
Although the motive for doing this walk was to
raise money for The Dame Very Lynn Trust it was the most enjoyable
experience and they are all very keen to do a similar event next
year. The aim was to raise £3000.00. They are very
nearly at this target and hope that donations will continue to come
in over the next couple of weeks by which time they should exceed
their goal.
If you would like to donate it is very easy to
do so. The easiest way is to donate online by visiting their
Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/guyleonard100.
If you would like further details please contact Cathy Moore at Guy
Leonard & Company on 01903 744166.
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