Foxy on the march again
Published: 22 April 2008
Students at a special school in Fareham, can look forward to using some brand new swings, thanks to a Jeremy Fox and a group of walkers who are set to complete a gruelling 131 mile trek this summer.
St Francis Special School have joined forces with the Jeremy's Footprints Charity Fund-raising group who are in the process of planning their second long-distance charity walk, with the intention of raising around £5,000 for the school which provides specialist care and education for children with physical and learning disabilities. The money raised would go towards some brand new play equipment for some of the schools older students.
Last year the group of walkers raised just under £4,000 for Cancer Research UK for completing a 100 mile walk along the South Downs and are now turning their attention to helping two local charities. St Francis School and the Southampton-based charity Wessex Heartbeat. The proceeds raised from the event, hopefully around £10,000, will be split 50/50 between them.
Another
aim of the event is to remember the late Michael Proctor, an 18-year-old,
who passed away late last year. Michael was a student at St Francis
and suffered from heart-problems so the two charities are both directly
connected to him and his family.
Michael was also a much-loved character, well known by several members of the walking group. His family are fully supportive of the walk and his sister, Dale Roe, is an honorary member of Footprints.
Footprints' 2008 event is "Destination Dover - North Downs Challenge" - a 131-mile trek along the North Downs Way from Farnham in Surrey to the famous Channel Port of Dover in Kent over seven days.
This is a big ask for even the most experienced walker but between June 2nd-8th that is precisely what five walkers will attempt to do.
The team are about to launch a Community based campaign before, during and after the walk to try and encourage people to donate to these worthwhile causes and raise awareness of the valuable work they do.
With that in mind, the team have successfully joined forces with a prominent local restaurant in Fareham who have become the events major sponsors. The Oast & Squire, have been trying to help the school fund-raise for a while and could not resist the temptation to join the project as the main sponsor. This will allow them to fulfil their ambition to help the school and play a role in the community.
Jeremy Fox, Boro's outgoing fixture secretary and Chairman of Footprints said: "The South Downs Walk was a real success last year and I was delighted with the amount of money raised for charity.
"This year we want to better that and help two really worthwhile causes who play a key role in the community and were close to Michael. The group want to do their best for them, remember Michael and celebrate his life.
"In every sense, this event is going to be bigger, better and more successful than last year. We will enjoy the challenge and seeing others benefit from our efforts".
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For more details on the event and how to donate, please visit the group website at www.destinationdover.btik.com. Alternatively contact Jeremy on either 023 9252 4726 or 07877 486467, or the Group Secretary Katie Hyett on 07926 879252.
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