I’m taking on the challenge of 70K in May. Why? To help people push back against poverty. Did you know, malnourishment and poverty affect more than 70% of people in Burundi?
Christian Aid are working to empower families in Burundi to build reliable and diverse incomes. Take Aline, for example. She found a lifeline in Christian Aid after she felt the full force of extreme poverty, when an early marriage ended in abuse and violence. We helped her with small business training and she set up as a grocery wholesaler. Today, Aline can afford food, clothes, and essential healthcare for her family.
There’s more people Christian Aid could reach – and that’s why I’m fundraising and taking part in 70K in May.
The money raised can help ensure more people get the skills and knowledge they need to fulfil their hopes and ambitions. £10 could provide one person with the training that supports their family to set up a small business, such as selling home-grown vegetables.
Together we can make a lasting difference. Thank you for your support!
Updates
The activity was closed
It's taken me a few days to update this but I completed the challenge on Wednesday walking the next two sections of the London Spiral in one go. They were shortish sections of about 5 miles each but I walked just shy of 10.5 miles doing them together, or 16.83 km, which we'll call 16.5 making a total of 72km. I'm hoping to carry on walking the spiral but I probably won't be able to manage to walk so often this month. It's been really interesting to cut through various "layers" of London and get a better idea of how bits of London I know fit together and what the bits in between are like. Nobody came with me for the last leg, but a mixture of time with others and time to be on my own has been really good. At the point of writing I've reached 89% of my online target with quite a bit of cash given by members of the congregation too, so it's definitely been worthwhile as a fundraiser, a much needed bit of exercise and in getting to know the city.
I recorded it in 3 sections - two for the first stage as it involved a ferry across the Thames in the middle! You can see the routes and some pictures here: https://www.komoot.com/…
https://www.komoot.com/…
https://www.komoot.com/…
Another section completed today in lovely weather through some very familiar territory. After a cafe lunch, a member of the joined me to walk the first three miles from Battersea Park through Stockwell to Camberwell. Then it was on to Burgess Park and more or less round the southern boundary of my old parish and on to Southwark Park. London really is an incredibly green city. It's difficult to go very far at all without finding a park or some sort, large or small, and I passed by or through several today. You can see a record of the route here: https://www.komoot.com/…
Another 6.5 miles done which is just under 10.5 km. With all the rounding down I've done so far I feel justified in counting it as 10.5 meaning I've completed 55.5km with 14.5 still to go and reached 77% if my fundraising target so far, not including the cash several congregants have given the church treasurer as this page only allows giving online.
Obviously tired after the walk. I forgot the link to the recording of the walk https://www.komoot.com/… and, even worse, miscalculated how far I still have to go, which is of course 25km not 15!
A shorter section today, 5.7 miles or 9.2km, which I'll round down to 9, bringing the total walked to 45km, leaving 15km still to go.
A pleasant walk today through some rather refined parts of town and some more interesting mewses behind the big houses to the river and across into Battersea Park. We passed some notable homes and a large number of blue (and other colour) plaques.
I was pleased to be joined on the walk by my PA, the parish administrator, the Deanery administrator, our Befriending Project manager, the Church treasurer and our lead server, who, being all one person I have nicknamed the Pooh Bah of the parish!
Congratulations! This activity has reached 75% of its target!
A beautiful afternoon for the third part of my walk, this time East to West through some beautiful parts of London with which I was unfamiliar. Today being my day off I didn't take any congregants with me but my partner Jan decided he'd like to so we had a lovely afternoon in some perfect weather walking through Archway, across Hampstead Heath to Kilburn and the Paddington Recreation Ground. You can see a record of the walk here: https://www.komoot.com/…
6.7 miles done today or 10.78km, so we'll count that as 10.5km making a total of 36km done, 34 to go. Just over half way now!
One again I forgot to add the link to the completed walk on Komoot. Here it is: https://www.komoot.com/…
Today I completed the 2nd stage of the walk, this time accompanied by a member of my congregation. The planned walk, from the South Bank up through the city, Hoxton, De Beauvoir and on to Finsbury Park was 6.95 miles but the Komoot app recorded us as having walked 7.23 miles. I think this was partly because we stopped in to see a few churches, receiving unexpected hospitality including a cup of tea at St Peter's, De Beauvoir Town. Mainly, though, it was because GPS signal disappeared for a few minutes in the city and the app added in some extra bits at certainly didn't walk! 7 miles is about 11.26km, so we'll count that as 11km for today and thus 25.5km done and 44.5km to go!
Congratulations! This activity has reached 50% of its target!
I forgot to add that I am planning and recording the walks on Komoot: partly so I can prove I've done it and partly as a resource for any other Komoot users who might wish to walk the London Spiral in the future. You can see the details here: https://www.komoot.com/…
At 9 miles, or 14.5km for the purposes of this challenge, the first section of the London Spiral is (I think) the longest. Looking at other people's records of walking the spiral it's often done in two parts but I thought I'd have a do at doing it in one go and make a strong start to completing the 70km. The walk starts at King's Cross Station and takes you up to Regents Canal before looping around through Somers Town, Tavistock Place, Clerkenwell, Pentonville and back across Caledonian Road and York Road until you meet the canal again at St Pancras Basin. It then follows the tow path to Camden Lock and Camden High Street where many people break their walk to continue another day. By the time I was approaching there, I thought I might need to do the same but a cup of tea soon sorted me out and after a short break I carried on through Regents Park via Great Portland Street, Regents Street and Haymarket to Trafalgar Square and on to the Golden Jubilee Bridge and The Royal Festival Hall, my destination for this stage. As there were rail strikes today my journey to King's Cross wasn't as straightforward as it would usually be, so I'd done a fair few steps before I started and I've yet to travel home but I'm only counting distance walked on the spiral, so 14.5 km down, 55.5 to go!
Congratulations! This activity has received its first donation!