It was another drizzly
(and chilly) start to
the morning, but it did
not seem to dampen the
enthusiasm of our
supporters, some of whom
had travelled several
hundred miles to take
part.
Registration was held
inside Durham Amateur
Rowing Club.
Participants checked in
and picked up a balloon,
then had a hot drink and
a chat with each other
whilst we waited for
everyone to arrive. CRY
staff and photographer
Doug Moody took details
and photographs for the
local press.
Many people who took
part walked in memory of
a young person who they
had sadly lost to young
sudden cardiac death,
including Kasia Ber, Ian
Bowen, Naomi Dixon,
James Edward Dougherty,
Lezlie Elkington, David
Elliot, Dean Henderson,
Ian Johnson, Faye
Linton, Leon Ashley
Manners, Paul McGlynn,
Levon Morland, Sarah
Simpson and Lee Daniel
Turner. This year we
also had a team of 13
young walkers from the
F.C Easington
football club, walking
with the Ber team, as
well as a team from
Virgin Media, Health and
Safety, who travelled
from London, Manchester
and Cardiff, with their
partners, to take part.
Thank you!
Just before midday, once
everyone had checked in,
Rebecca Zouvani, CRY
Fundraising Manager,
made a short speech to
thank everyone for
coming and introduced
Jeff Morland, who made a
very moving speech about
his own experience,
following the loss of
his son Levon and his
support of CRY. Instead
of a minute’s silence,
the new CRY song, “Don’t
Cry” composed by Steve
Percival and recorded
with the help of his
talented friends and
family, who all kindly
donated their time, was
played
http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/supporter_songs.htm
Everyone then made their
way to the outside of
the club to take part in
a motivating and fun
warm up, including some
Zumba moves, led by
volunteer fitness
instructor Jane Rich,
from Get Active, County
Durham & Darlington NHS
Foundation Trust.
After photographs and
press interviews,
including photographs of
John and Elaine Lawler,
Honorary African Chief
and Queen of a small
village in West Ghana
called Shia, dressed in
their tribal wear, the
walkers, some with baby
buggies and toddlers,
and their dogs set off
on the walk, picking up
a bottle of water, fruit
juice and a cereal or
chocolate bar on the way
.
Following the beautiful
River Wear, walkers had
a striking view of
Durham Cathedral. The
autumnal colours of the
trees lining the river
bank provided a stunning
backdrop for the walk.
After crossing Bath
Bridge and breaking away
from the river
momentarily for a
detour, the 7km route
looped back around to
finish at Durham Amateur
Rowing Club, where each
walker was welcomed back
by Kenny and Maralyn
Bowen, CRY
Representatives, and
presented with a
certificate, feedback
form and CRY wristband
as a token of thanks
from CRY.
The Rowing Club kindly
opened the bar and
provided delicious
toasties and homemade
scones ready for the
walkers’ return, which
was a very welcome
treat! The club was full
of smiling faces, and
everyone seemed to enjoy
the day. We would love
to see everyone again
next year and hope to
see some more new faces
too. We are hoping to
hold the event on the 6th
October next year, so
please provisionally
keep this date free.
If you would like to
know when a date has
been confirmed for 2012
please email
events@c-r-y.org.uk.
We are very grateful to
the event sponsors
Durham Amateur Rowing
Club for providing a
great venue at a
discount and to Mark
Bell and his team for
making available drinks
and delicious food; to
Northumbrian Water for
kindly donating the
water; Joe Crow and
Radflex for donating the
chocolate bars.
Thank you to the
following volunteers for
all their help before,
during and after the
event by organising and
attending meetings;
promoting; driving;
taking deliveries;
pre-event telephone
calls and emails;
marshalling; designing
and marking out the
route; providing first
aid cover ;registering
walkers; inflating
balloons, warm up,
handing out water,
chocolate bars,
certificates and forms
and clearing up. We
really couldn’t run a
new event like this, so
far from the CRY office,
without the help of
dedicated volunteers:
David and Debbie
Anderson; John and Diane
Ber; Kenny and Maralyn
Bowen; David (Joe) Crow;
Stewart Doyle; Mark
Gilbank; Bruce Lowes;
Aran Morland; Jeff
Morland; Steve Percival;
Jane Rich; Ted Philo;
Carolyn King; Sheila at
Durham Town Hall; Sue
Burlinson at Durham
County Council; Julie
Slater at Durham
Clayport Library; Mrs
Elliot; Jean Johnson and
Mr Tidbury.
We really appreciated
the time and help of all
of the volunteers and
special thanks to Jeff
and Steve for making it
all happen.
Thank you also to the
participants who kindly
helped with media for
the walk. This resulted
in several pieces
appearing in the press
as well as local radio
and TV interviews.
We hope you like the
photos. If you
participated in the walk
and took photos which
you would like to see
included here, please
send them to
events@c-r-y.org.uk
with the subject ‘Durham
Walk photos’. Please
also contact
events@c-r-y.org.uk if you would like
to be emailed any of the
photos on these pages.
Photos by Doug Moody
More photos...
