WALK TALL Sunday 24 July 2011

I am so glad you are joining me on the Walk Tall sponsored walk on the 24th July. It looks like it will be a great event with over 50 conrmed participants adults, children and dogs!! As you know, there are three ways for people to get involved on the day: 15 mile walk 6 mile walk Walk support

The walks have been designed to nish at approximately the same time so everyone can then join us for a big tea and cakes party! Here are all the details you need to know about the event. 15 mile walkers Arrive 9.00 am Walk starts 9.30 am Approx 5 hours walking (plus 30 mins stops and breaks) Approx 3.00 pm nish 6 mile walkers (Timed to nish at the same time as the 15 mile walk) Arrive 12.15 pm Walk starts 12.45 pm Approx 2 hours walking (plus 15 mins stops and breaks) Approx 3.00 pm nish

Starting point Everyone starts and nishes in the same place at the Bridgewater Monument, address below. There is plenty of parking and lots of open grass space where the support team will set up for the post walk tea and cakes.

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Bridgewater Monument Ashbridge Estate Ringshall Berkhamstead HP4 1LT

Walk Maps Please print off the map for your walk and bring it with you. If you have trouble acessing the PDFs I can send via Dropbox, so just let me know. Walk Preparation Footwear I am sure I dont need to tell you how important it is to have the right footwear. 6 mile footwear you can get away with good trainers 15 mile footwear ideally walking shoes or boots. If not, then really good solid trainers. What to take Suggested items to pack in your rucksack: Plenty of water Healthy snacks (15 milers may want to include a small packed lunch) Tissues Money Fully charged mobile Waterproof Hat Sun glasses/sunscreen lotion Plasters and blister patches (essential!!!)

Look after your feet At the rst sign of a blister, deal with it. Put on a plaster or blister patch immediately! Sponsorship I am walking to raise funds for two charities that are close to my heart. I believe that it is necessary to raise as much money as possible to fund research into of all types of cancer. The nominated charities are Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and Breakthrough Breast Cancer who do amazing work in this regard. Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Through the fundraising activities and donations of our supporters, we fund research into pancreatic cancer, particularly to improve early diagnosis and treatment, and we are committed to providing information and support and raising awareness of pancreatic cancer by providing a powerful campaigning voice for everyone who has by been affected by the disease Breakthrough Breast Cancer A pioneering charity saving lives and changing futures, through research, campaigning and education removing the fear of breast cancer for good Howards Way Walk The HWW teams support has been invauable in getting Walk Tall up and running and some of the team will be joining us on the day. The HWW team are a fantastic group of people who have been walking to raise money for pancreatic cancer since 2007 when Howard Kerrs illness was announced and support for the cause from within the Events Industry was forthcoming from all quarters. As a consequence of their fundraising the rst Howard Kerr PHD Studentship Award has been made to a student studying at the Institute of Cancer at Barts. I walked 100 miles with them in 2010 and am proud to be doing the 85 mile Howards Way Walk in September this year. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HWW2011 How to Raise Money Via Link Send the link to everyone you know to encourage them to sponsor you or pledge. Make sure they mention your name when they donate on-line.

Sponsorship Form It may be easier to use a sponsorship form, collect all the money and then go into the Walk Tall website and pledge the total amount yourself. If you are a UK tax payer you can increase the amount by adding gift aid (Oliver did this at Oakwood School and collected 130 in 2 days!) Donate I completely understand if you are involved in fundraising elsewhere but a small donation to cover your enjoyment of the day (and huge amounts of cake) would be wonderful! Pink and Yellow Ribbons We thought it would be nice to unite everyone on the day by ying the colours of the two nominated charities (Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund Yellow and Breakthrough Breast Cancer Pink) It would be great if everyone could display a pink or yellow ribbon somewhere on their person. However, dont worry if you havent any ribbon because we will come armed with reels of yellow and pink on the day! Bake Cakes (and Bring Water) Only home made cakes will do of course, but the rest is up to you. The aim is to have a plentiful supply of cakes for all walkers and supporters, so bake a cake and bring it with you on the day (if you can!). Supporters will be on hand at the beginning of each walk so you can ofoad before you start. Also if possible, please bring a large bottle of water to help boost supplies. (Please drop me a quick email if you will be bringing a cake so we can get an idea of numbers) Walk Support We need you! If you dont fancy the walk then help with the following would be great! Please contact my Mum, Sandra who is coordinating this element and let her know what you want to do: sghconsulting@btinternet.com -9.00am - receive cakes/water, issue ribbons, clap hard as walkers set off!! -9.00am onwards - be on hand with a mobile/car to support if issues arrise -12.15 pm - receive cakes/water, issue ribbons, clap hard as walkers set off!! -2.00 pm onwards - help set up cake and tea party -3.00 pm onwards - help serve up cake/tea and give a massive cheer to all walkers as they nish!

Other Stuff Feel free to load your car with rugs, camping chairs or anything else to sit on. We are hoping for ne weather but cant rely on it so we may also need additional gazebos (let us know if you have one to bring). Everyone who wants to join us for any part of the event is welcome. Feel free to invite family and friends to cheer at the start and the nish of the walk and to join the tea party afterwards. And nally..... As many of you know already, we have a famouse Hollywood actress joining the walk. Jane Leeves (Daphne in Frasier and Joy in Hot in Cleveland) and her family will be joining the walk. Jane is a childhood friend (well actually we used to ght over who was going to be the Princess, but thats another story). Jane is happy to sign autographs etc (well maybe wait until after the walk!)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for joining and supporting Walk Tall with such short notice. I really hope you have fun!! Laura x