A number of members of Gravesend and Meopham Rotary Club together with their partners went the extra mile to raise monies for two deserving causes last month. The group of eleven walked across England coast to coast, west to east in 6 days along the Hadrian’s Wall path in aid of the Junior Diabetes Research foundation and Shelterbox.

And the group duly hit the heights – not only in terms of scaling the peaks where the wall was built in AD122 but also in terms of the funds they raised. As a result of completing the 85 mile long path from Bowness on Salway to Wallsend near Newcastle the group collected over £8000 to be divided between the two charities.

At the Club’s annual “handover” meeting on 24th June when it installed a new President for the year, cheques were presented to representatives of the two organisations, Shelley Bennett from JDRF and David Hatcher of Shelterbox. [see pictures] The outgoing President of the Club Alan Ridgers was there to greet the walkers when they arrived at Wallsend. He commented that the wind and rain through which the party had walked had not dampened their enthusiasm for the two causes. “I am delighted that the Walk has resulted in my Club being able to make significant contributions towards two very good causes. JDRF is a global organisation working towards the cure of type 1 diabetes, and to improve the lives of those affected by the disease until that cure is found. Those affected by the disease have to cope with the stress and strain of constantly monitoring their blood sugar levels and injecting themselves with insulin. Shelterbox delivers the essentials people need to begin rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of a disaster. The boxes it sends to a disaster typically contains a disaster relief tent for a family, thermal blankets and groundsheets, water storage and purification equipment, solar lamps, cooking utensils, a basic tool kit, mosquito nets and children’s activity pack.”

Based on information supplied by Simon Grierson.