Thursday 31 May 2012

THE SPONSORED WALK

By Barbara (UK)

You can see the four earlier posts on Barbara's walk by clicking on this link.
Click on this to see a large format version.
Poster by Ruth AKA Kattaddorra

This is the final installment of the series of four written by my sister Ruth ‘Sharing the fun of fund raising for needy cats’.
 
The day of the walk dawned and it was pouring down! The forecast had said rain to start with but clearing…it didn’t clear! Anyway I got ready with the help of my dear (patient) sister and we both went up to my work so Ruth could take some photos and she’d said she would go over the road to a shop and get me a Cats Protection balloon filled with helium to attach to the pushchair. As it turned out she got two and free of charge as the shop owner said it was to help a charity, so there was another kind soul.

My manager Jenette was at work already as she was manning the office in my absence, she hooted with laughter when she saw me but said I looked good, just not like me, she also donated £10 which was lovely. Then we waited for Julee to arrive, she had to travel about 45 minutes to get to us and got lost at the very end, after phoning for directions she was soon with us and then changed into her doggy costume. She’d made it herself and admitted she’s no seamstress, so that made two of us, but she had to be stapled into her suit as she hadn’t had time to put a zip in!

Finally we were ready and Ruth took our photos indoors and outside, once the photos were done we’d had to cover the pusschair with plastic as it was raining so heavily. Then we said cheerio to Ruth and Jenette and set off on our journey. We made our way through the shops, knocked on the window of the hairdressers that Ruth and I go to and they came out to see us and started our collecting boxes off, despite having already sponsored us.
On we went, past the cemetery, past the last of the houses and onto the bypass, still pouring rain. We got a couple of beeps on car horns and a few waves but didn’t meet anyone except two horses looking over a gate and they were scared of us, or maybe the balloons. Eventually we came to the end of the bypass and made our way to the Bishop Auckland branch of Funeralcare where we had a quick cuppa and set off again for the last bit of the walk, down into the town centre where we positioned ourselves outside of the shopping arcade, dripping wet but still in good spirits.

Most people ignored us! They were of course huddled up in their coats and covered by brollies then Julee hit on the idea of handing the little CP furry stickers out to kids, which made some of the mothers feel obliged to stop and put some coppers in our boxes, one or two cat lovers came along to have cat conversations with but not as many as we expected, purely due to the rotten weather.

We stood for about an hour and a half and we had a laugh but really we were wasting our time so we phoned my manager and she came to pick us up and bring us back home, my feet were squelching in my shoes and my shoulders soaked through so I was glad to call it a day. We’d only collected £23.42 in our boxes.

I really enjoyed it, despite the soaking, I’d thought the walk would be hard going but it flew over, it would have been nice to have some sunshine but it wasn’t to be.

We haven’t got all the sponsor money in yet so I can’t give the total amount raised until we do but I know that each of the two charities, Cats Protection Wear Valley & Darlington, and Hope Animal Shelter will get £200 each at the very least plus the £100 each from the Co-operative Booster Fund.

I can’t believe I’ll get away with no aches and pains from today, but it was so, so worth it for the sake of cats!

Thank you very much to everyone who sponsored me for the walk and everyone who has been interested in the event. I’ll post the final total as a comment on this article as soon as possible.

Barbara avatar

11 comments:

  1. Man I love the photos and the write up Im sorry it was such bad weather but you did well anyway.
    What a job to get to this page its all different whatever has happened to the old POC I wonder.
    What a shame.
    Ed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didnt mean to be anonymous but Ive not got a facebook as I hate it invades privacy or a google only a yahoo Im very confused with new stuff
      Ed

      Delete
  2. You looked great, Babz! Well done! What a shame about the weather, I wonder if the results would have been better if the weather hadn't been so miserable. Still, you did a wonderful job, for a fantastic cause, and you should be extremely proud of yourself!

    Keep up the great work!

    Maggie

    (I'm extremely confused with the new PoC, too. So I'm going to copy Ed and post this comment as Anonymous...)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well done Babz and Julee. Shame that the weather let you down on the day, but it's great to see you both managed to keep smiling and have a laugh. You both managed to raise a fantastic amount before the walk had even taken place - the charities must be delighted.

    Michele S.

    What happened to the old style PoC? Like Ed, I don't have accounts with any of the options listed so had to post as Anon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm Rose

    I love the poster and you did so well Babz considering the weather was so rotten.
    I bet you needed a hot bath by you got home.
    I'm not on facebook or any of those other things either,only yahoo mail,whatever has gone wrong with PoC,it was so nice before.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful result and if the weather hadn't been so unkind you'd have doubled it no doubt.
    I love the pictures.
    Sorry it's take me so long to comment, I've been trying to open this page since I got the link, I kept getting a black page. I'm not sure how I got here now but it's not half as nice as the old site.
    I don't think I'll be coming as much.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just managed to open this page after trying all weekend, I kept getting a black screen too, just heard from Leanne at Kays Hill she can't open it either.
    Brilliant article Babz, I'm very proud of you for walking all that way in the pouring rain and raising so much money, such a poor bedraggled 'cat'arrived home cold and hungry lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks very much for all your kind comments,it's taken me a while to realise there were comments as I'm a bit confused with the new PoC and mourning the old style. Anyway, it was a splendid day, all the better to remember as each day goes past LOL, we were very wet and cold animals by we got back to the office,but it was SO worth it, I know both charities are extremely grateful to everyone who sponsored Julee and me. Once we have the final figure I'll be back on to let you all know.
    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've managed to get here at last, I gave it one more chance and saw 9 comments on, I don't understand how this works as every other time there was none or anywhere to click to put one. Can we have the old PoC back please, this is putting me off coming much.
    Great poster and blog about the walk, good work Barbara and Julee, I hope you made a lot of money in spite of the rain.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd like to thank everyone for all the encouragement and good wishes and those who sponsored me online and in person. The total amount collected between Julee and myself by sponsorship and street collection was £400.42 so Cats Protection Wear Valley & Darlington and Hope Animal Shelter in Loftus will receive £200 each plus the extra £100 each from the Booster Fund. The odd 42p has gone into the copper jar which when it has amounted to enough goes to buy tins of cat food for needy cats. Thanks again and thanks to Michael for his donation too.

    ReplyDelete

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