Stuart and Josie's fundraising walk
13/02/2020
Josie and Stuart's fundraising walk
In May 2019 Stuart our operations manager completed an astonishing 158 miles from the Bluebird Care office in Seaford to Abbotsbury. Stuart planned and mapped a challenging 215 mile walk from the Bluebird Care office in Seaford to the Bluebird Care office in Exeter.
Stuart was determined to complete the rest of the walk however due to walking so many miles he had to go to A&E as his foot was extremely painful and he found out it had been badly infected, so the doctor advised Stuart not to carry on the rest of the walk.
The walk was postponed with 58 miles still to complete. Josie decided to join Stuart for the last part of the walk which was from Abbotsbury to Exeter. The second part of the walk happened on the 9th of February 2020. There were several weather warnings, as storm Ciara was coming our way. However we decided to go ahead with the walk as it was an extra challenge for us. We walked along the Jurassic coast, the sights were breath-taking, however the weather was extremely dangerous. Josie say: ‘The wind was unbelievably strong, I have never experienced wind like it. At one point Stuart and I had to lie on the grass and hold on to a post as we couldn’t stand up due to the force of the wind.’
The goal was to walk through the middle of the night and finish the next day. Kat the director of Bluebird Care Gosport was constantly checking the weather and she made the sensible decision that Stuart and Josie should stay in a BnB that night. Josie and Stuart were happy with the decision and then decided to start the in the morning with 28 miles to go. They both started from Lime Regis and were walking to Exeter. The walk was extremely challenging, with steep cliffs and wet and muddy ground. Josie also says ‘I slipped over a lot as I couldn’t find my grip, the mud was like an ice rink. The second day I started walking, I was 5 miles in and my hip was hurting a lot. I decided I had to go and see a physio to get it checked out as I could not move my leg. The physio supported me and advised that I would not be able to complete the next 20 miles.’
Stuart carried on and he completed the whole walk, which was a fantastic achievement. The walk had many stories and memories, with such a challenging walk it was hard to predict the conditions and timings, however the walk is complete and we managed to raise an incredible £2,975.32, which is amazing.
The Silver Line charity is a 24 hour telephone helpline that provides phone called to people aged over 55 years old. The Silver Line offers companionship, advice and friendship to individuals suffering from loneliness.
This charity is close to our hearts here at Bluebird Care Gosport as we work with individuals that live on their own and only see our carers once a day or sometimes even weekly. We are fighting against loneliness and we are working extremely hard to encourage out customers to join in with local events and clubs, so they feel part of the society again.
We would like to thank everyone for your continuous support and involvement in our journey.
Also thank you to everyone who donated and sponsored us, it means a lot to us here at Bluebird Care.
