End of the Challenge and many thanks to all who joined in

Throughout 2010 and 2011, we challenged our supporters across the UK to walk, run or cycle around the coastline of the UK, to raise money for Afasic.

Many of you participated, covering distances from 2 miles to over 200 miles, raising over £10,000 in the process.  We would like to give a really big ‘Thank You’ to all of you who took part in this challenge, it really is appreciated.

Recent activity included 3 members of the Eastham (St David’s) United Reformed Church raising £645 in sponsorship from the Wirral Coastal Walk. Janine Curd and family did an 8 mile stretch of coast between South Gare and Saltburn to fill in a gap that had been left.

The final participant in the challenge was 12 year old Ella Wood who successfully completed a bike ride between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft Ness in October with her Mum and Dad. It was about 13 miles and she had to really dig deep at the end, but made it to the finish. Ella was joined by Kiera Douglas (age 7) and her mum for the first 2 miles, which is further than Kiera ever expected to do.  Ella raised about £300 from her efforts, which is brilliant.

This means that we have now covered the coast from Brighton in the south, all the way up the east coast to the border of Northumberland. We have also covered large parts of the West coast and Welsh coast – so well done to everyone who has been involved with this challenge.

We are currently thinking up a new Challenge for 2012 and will let people know in the new year!

Coastline Challenge Update – May 2011

Last April, Afasic launched its challenge to members, friends and supporters to walk, run, or cycle the length of the UK mainland coastline. Since then we have had many people take part in the challenge, covering distances that have ranged from 2 miles to over 300 miles, all of which counted towards the challenge. So far we have raised over £10,500 in sponsorship as a result and are very grateful to everyone for all their hard work in helping to achieve this.

In the last month or so those taking part have included:

• Clare Davies-Jones, who successfully walked 12 miles of the North Norfolk Coast to raise over £2,000 in sponsorship for the Afasic Youth Project. That may not sound like much but just over a year earlier Clare had broken her hip so it was a real achievement.

• Abby Beverly and Chris Wells successfully completed a 30-mile walk along the Essex coast from Ramsey Island to Tollesbury and have raised over £800 for the Afasic Youth Project.

• About 22 people from the Language Centre at York University have been involved in walking and cycling the whole of the Yorkshire coastline over a series of 4 weekends, in March and April.

• Marysia Nash, Gemma Wilson and Gill Earl are walking a part of the coast between Edinburgh and Dunbar on the east coast of Scotland. Marysia said “Gemma, Gill and I started on Saturday 2^nd April and walked about 12 miles between Aberlady and North Berwick in East Lothian. It was a fabulous afternoon and we have already raised some sponsor money. On the second weekend we walked from Portobello to Preston Pans (Gemma ran that section the following day in a half Marathon!). We got the dogs to model the t-shirts and people at Portobello prom were so taken with the models that one person gave a £10 spontaneous donation!”.

• Anthony Sullivan has cycled the length of the Lincolnshire coast (150+ miles).

• Valerie Benge and Lynne Thomas walked 20 miles along the Cumbria coast from Grange over Sands to Ulverston.

• Carol Lingwood & Liz Appleton walked 2 miles along the coastal path from Pudscombe Cove to Scabbacombe Head in Devon.

• Our regular cyclist Jonathan Edwards has been at it again, this time cycling between Teesmouth to Tynemouth.

• Chi and Paul, their son Marley, and Anh (sister of Chi) walked the 15 miles from Poole to Southbourne (Dorset) in April to raise sponsorship for the Afasic Youth Project.

• Margaret Braiden walked from Port William to Monreith on the West Coast of Scotland.

• Good luck to Chris Rowe who is planning to run / walk 100 miles in a day!

Even though our one year deadline was reached at the end of last month, we have come so far that we are keen to finish the whole coastline if we can, and so are extending the deadline till the end of December this year!

If you are interested in joining in, the areas that are still to be covered at the moment include:

Cornwall, Cumbria (North from Ulverston to Gretna), Devon, Dorset (Poole to Lyme Regis), Hampshire, Somerset, Northumberland, West Sussex (Southwick to Emsworth), Scotland – East Coast (North of Edinburgh)- North Coast (All) – West Coast (Gretna to Monreith, and Port William to Dumbarton), and Wales (Swansea to Pembroke, Fishguard to Aberystwyth, and Tywyn to Caernarfon).

We are very grateful to all those who have taken part so far and hope that many more will want to join in the challenge and help us to cover the whole of the UK.

Clare Davies-Jones Norfolk coast walk

Clare Davies-Jones successfully completed her 12 mile walk along the North Norfolk coast from Burnham Overy Staithe to Stiffkey and has raised over £1,000 for the Afasic Youth Project.

Update on the Afasic Coastline Challenge

Dave Jones – Essex Coast

Congratulations to Dave Jones who has successfully cycled the Essex coast, from the QE2 Bridge at Dartford to the Orwell Bridge outside Ipswich. The total distance was well over 200 miles and took in the delights of Tilbury, Canvey Island, Southend, Harwich, Walton on the Naze, Brightlingsea, Colchester, Maldon, Bradwell, and Burnham. Well done to Dave who did the trip alone and un-assisted over a couple of weekends.

Afasic Youth Project

Members of the Afasic Youth Project, based in North East London, have joined in the Challenge, by walking the 8 miles from Shoeburyness to Leigh on Sea. A total of 15 people took part in the walk, and completed 18,149 steps along the way! The stretch between Shoeburyness & Southend was tough but all the members did brilliantly and were very chuffed with themselves at the end.

Join In!

So far the Coastline Challenge has raised over £5,000 in sponsorship for Afasic, which is very much appreciated. It’s not too late to join in, we still need people to take part in this challenge and help us to cover the whole of the UK coastline by the end of April 2011. In particular we need people to walk, ride or run in Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Hampshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Scotland, Somerset, North Wales and Yorkshire. Please do join in with this challenge, have a bit of fun and help us to raise some much needed money and awareness. As long as you do at least a mile it will count! Join in the Challenge! Contact Mark Thompson for further details.

August update from Fundraising Director

I am very pleased to report that during the summer we had a number of events towards our coastline challenge. These included a cycle ride round the Kent coast, a walk along the coast at Aberystwyth, and a group walking 55 miles of the Pembrokeshire coastal path. Here are brief reports for these and some photos.

* Alison Huneke, Ruth Huneke, Immo Huneke, June Chanpoomidole and Eileen Chapman tackled a 2.5 mile walk between Pengraig Draw and Aberystwyth.

* Jonathan Edwards has successfully completed his cycle ride of the Kent coastline, over 2 weekends in July, a total of about 160 miles.

* A brave group of 4 walkers took on 55 miles of very hilly terrain along the Pembrokeshire Coastal path. Well done to Frances Palopoli, Hilary Jones, Giacomo Palopoli and Jan Thompson for keeping going, despite blisters, dodgy knees and general aches and pains to fully complete their planned route. The weather was kind to them, they had some wonderful scenery and wildlife (including seals) to admire, and came across some interesting characters along the way! For the first couple of days they had to carry their food supplies as well as everything else given the remoteness of their accommodation. (see post for the Diary of their trip).

Well done to all the above and many thanks for all the effort that you have put in on our behalf.

So far we have raised a total of £3,600 from the coastline challenge, which for a charity of our size is very important. We are also aware that people taking part in the event have been raising awareness as they go and that too is a very important part of the challenge, as this is a hidden disability.

We still need people to take part in the challenge to try and get the whole coastline covered (the Challenge finishes at the end of March 2011) so please do get in touch with me to see what parts of the coast still need to be walked / cycled / run!

Mark Thompson

Director of Fundraising

(markt@afasic.org.uk 020 7490 9410)

Our Pembrokeshire Coast Adventure 2010 – Frances, Hillary, Giacomo & Jan

Wednesday August 6^th

We were up early to catch the train from Paddington laden with rucksacks. Our team of 4; Frances, Hilary, Giacomo and Jan began our adventure at Fishguard. Here we bought last minute supplies of crumble and custard, and began our hike at 1.15pm. This part of the coast was extremely rocky, with many ups and downs. 8 miles later at 6.15pm we could see Pwllderi Youth Hostel in the distance. After showering we cooked the dinner that we had carried and learnt an Italian card game.

Thursday August 7^th

We were woken early in the dormitory. Breakfast consisted of Hoops or porridge both easy to carry and crumpets with baked beans, an interesting combination. (Only tin I could buy in the hostel).

One team member now had 2 nasty blisters. After nursing all our feet by coating them in Vaseline and 2 pairs of socks we left about 10.30am on our way to Trefin. During our lunch stop we saw some seals on the beach below, basking in the sunshine, including a mother and baby pup! Walking on slightly better ground we reached the pub around 4pm taking around 10 miles for a well-earned pint, (the thought of this had kept us going all day).

We stayed here in a bunkhouse on a farm, which was in fact really lovely. We cooked and ate another dinner that we had carried from London.

Friday August 8^th

I had purchased 6 eggs from the local café owner in the small village and we had them on crumpets for breakfast this morning. Today was going to be 11.5 miles to St David’s Head. With our rucksacks lighter as we had no food to carry and with our feet nursed we left the bunk house for another day. Walking was easier as the coast was slightly flatter and grassier but still may steps to climb up and down to the bays. We were told we had missed St David’s Head so we left our youngest member bag sitting and we walked to view the point. At Whitesands bay we caught the shuttle bus to the town where we had the luxury of a bed and breakfast. That night our youngest member of the team had a stomach upset and another had severe blister trouble on each foot.

We ventured to the local pub for dinner. Mark, our 5^th member of the team, eventually arrived with us at 11pm.

Saturday August 9th

After a greasy breakfast we set off back on the bus to the trail, Here we met a young man called David who wanted to know more about our quest and the charity ’Afasic’, he gave a £5 donation to the cause. We headed towards Solva a 12.5mile trek southwards. We found a very welcome teashop in a harbour and sat in the hot sun for a well-earned lunch break.

Giacomo now had competition up front to keep the pace going. Another 2 members of the team turned up later that day and gave us a lift to the next Youth Hostel at Broadhaven. We had a BBQ that was laid on and met a fellow lady walker going round the cost the opposite way to us. Her name was Theresa. She worked in a special needs school in Cambridge and was very interested in the charity. She also gave a £5 donation to the cause. We played an easy game of cards to finish the night as we couldn’t cope with anything too taxing.

Sunday August 10^th

We needed to cover 12 miles in only a few hours as our lift home was leaving at 1pm. We decided to split into 2 teams so that we could cover this. The 2 boys left early and covered the 12 miles in 2 hours 53 minutes and the girls did 6 miles. The end at Newgale was a welcome sight but all thoughts of going for a celebratory swim soon disappeared when the sun went in, the wind picked up and we had cooled down!

Frances was a great organiser. Giacomo (aged 15) led the way and didn’t moan once about being with a group of old ladies, and as for Hilary, she gets the medal for walking through the pain of blisters, a dodgy knee and swollen foot, not complaining and determined to accomplish the task. Thanks go also to our driver Marcello and Meghan, we couldn’t have done it without this help.

It was a great adventure, with lots of great memories and many interesting people that we met on the way.

Anne Rannard – Ride Round the Wirral

Preparing the picnic at 6am and I’m worried that the rain clouds will spoil our day. I’d ordered the sun and asked for no rain, but didn’t think to ask for a calm day. Next time I’ll know better!

Marshalls in place by 10 and the ride started from Eastham Country Park, a nature reserve on the shores of the River Mersey. The ride started in glorious sunshine and everyone safely negotiated the busy A41 through to the docks at Woodside and Seacombe Ferries. The ‘Ferry Across the Mersey’ brought our youngest rider, Saira and her mum Amanda, from Liverpool to join the other riders at Seacombe. Saira was determined to complete the 25 mile ride with the adults and who were we to say ‘no’. Leaving Seacombe Ferry behind, the group of 11 started the coastal section of the ride, still in glorious sunshine but now they had to deal with force 9 gales blowing in from the Irish Sea. Bravely they struggled along the Wirral coastline to Hoylake, making full use of the drinking stations we’d set up along the way. Sadly after 7 miles, Saira had had enough and was in tears because she thought she had to finish the whole 25 miles in order to get her certificate and goody bag. The Afasic balloon tied to her bike had burst, which for her was the last straw. Saira and Amanda left us at Moreton and got the train home to Liverpool, but not before Saira got her goody bag after all.

After Hoylake the riders entered the more sheltered Wirral Way, a disused railway track that now serves as a lovely walkway and cycle path around the western side of the Wirral peninsula. By that time, with no more wind to deal with, they’d started to forgive me for persuading them to do the bike ride in the first place. On they went through Caldy, home of John Barnes and other famous footballing legends, to Lower Heswall where it is rumoured Rafa Benitez still has his £5m mansion, and finally coming off the Wirral Way at Parkgate.

The picnic at the end, still in glorious sunshine, was the chance for everyone to unwind and enjoy a cool beer and for the ladies, a nice glass of champagne. Jane’s knees were very painful at the end of the ride. In the absence of Paracetamol or Brufen, she found that the champagne did the trick and magically the pain in her knees disappeared after the second glass!

All in all, despite the gale force winds, everyone had an enjoyable day and even talked about doing it all again next year!!



Nevil Hutchinson & Abbey Gersten East Cost Walk

Abbey and I have supported the Afasic Coastline Challenge by walking the East Sussex coast over the weekend of 10th/11th July, a distance of about 60 miles.

Many thanks to everyone who has given money – we have been overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. Thank you all!

We did the walk: 8 miles Friday evening after work as far as Seaford; Saturday was Seaford to Bexhill-on-Sea – 26 miles; Sunday Bexhill to the border beyond Camber Sands – another 26 miles; finishing at 9pm on Sunday. Abbey got two blisters. I got none. We both had incredibly achy feet and legs at the end of the two long days; we didn’t think we’d be able to finish it on Sunday by the time we arrived in Bexhill on Saturday evening!

It’s a lovely coast!

Nevil Hutchinson & Abbey Gersten

Our first bike ride has been completed !

Jonathan Edwards has cycled the 76 miles of the Suffolk coast, from Ipswich to Lowestoft via Felixstowe and Southwold. In doing so Jonathan also visited the most easterly point of the UK.

Jonathan is now in western Scotland and has cycled from Fort William to Mallaig, taking in the Westernmost point of the UK as well.

A great start to the challenge !

Message from Fundraising Director

The Afasic Coast Challenge officially launches this month. This is an exciting new challenge and I hope that you will want to join in our attempt to cycle / walk / run around the coastline of the mainland UK (approx. 5,000 miles) over the coming 12 months.

You can do as much or as little as you want, subject to a minimum distance of 1 mile. Let us know what you are planning to do, how you get on, and send us in some photos so that we can see what people are getting up to.

This challenge aims to raise much-needed funds for the work of Afasic. We are a small specialist charity that helps children and young people affected by the hidden disability of speech, language and communication impairments, which can have a devastating impact on the life of a child.

Afasic works with those affected to develop their communication, life and social skills and also with their parents to ensure that they get the support they need to be able to reach their true potential. Over 1 million are affected across the UK, so please get involved and help to give a child their voice!

Afasic can provide sponsor forms, t-shirts, information about our work, collecting tins, balloons, and help with planning your trip.

I hope that you will get involved.

Mark Thompson

Director of Fundraising

(markt@afasic.org.uk 020 7490 9410)