Sponsored towpath walk, London to Birmingham

[Dekazer]

Hi all,

 

This isn't a fundraising post, although you are welcome to donate if you wish.

 

This weekend a chap called Gary Birdsall is going to start walking from London, along the towpath, to Birmingham. He is raising money for a magazine called The Pavement, which is a newspaper by and for homeless people. The Pavement website is at http://www.thepavement.org.uk/

 

I imagine it'll be a long hard and fairly lonely walk, so if you see Gary I'm sure he'd be really glad of a cheery wave

 

His fundraising page (with his photo) is at http://www.justgiving.com/GaryBirdsall

 

Thanks all,

 

Lucy

[Josher]

the Pavement

is the free magazine for homeless people

in London and Scotland.

 

... and he is walking to Birmingham. Well I'm from Manchester, so caught in a bit of no-man's land on this one!

[Dekazer]

the Pavement

is the free magazine for homeless people

in London and Scotland.

 

... and he is walking to Birmingham. Well I'm from Manchester, so caught in a bit of no-man's land on this one!

 

The Pavement are aiming to set up a branch in the West Midlands, hence the walk - Gary will be fundraising to support the new West Midlands edition Crisis Skylight also recently moved to Brum, reflecting the level of demand for services for homeless people in that part of the world.

[muddywaters]

Hi all,

 

This isn't a fundraising post, although you are welcome to donate if you wish.

 

This weekend a chap called Gary Birdsall is going to start walking from London, along the towpath, to Birmingham. He is raising money for a magazine called The Pavement, which is a newspaper by and for homeless people. The Pavement website is at http://www.thepavement.org.uk/

 

I imagine it'll be a long hard and fairly lonely walk, so if you see Gary I'm sure he'd be really glad of a cheery wave

 

His fundraising page (with his photo) is at http://www.justgiving.com/GaryBirdsall

 

Thanks all,

 

Lucy

Would you like me to copy this and put it on my, myspace profile

[Dekazer]

Would you like me to copy this and put it on my, myspace profile

 

That's so kind, I'm sure every bit of publicity helps!

 

Gary stopped in this morning for a coffee. We hung a nice big banner on the boat to attract his attention, and brought him in for a nice warm sit down and a drink. We got out our canal maps and I pointed out some nice landmarks.

 

Gary's planning to stop in West Drayton tonight, Watford, then Berko. If you see him on the towpath please say hello, he's great. And if anyone fancies sponsoring him after seeing him, the website address is http://www.justgiving.com/GaryBirdsall

 

Cheers,

 

Lucy

[the grinch]

hope he can walk on water! the towpath is non existant in several places!

[Dekazer]

hope he can walk on water! the towpath is non existant in several places!

 

Cripes! His boots did look pretty stout, and I think he's pretty determined Gary's now getting some press coverage, and donations are on the rise, which is good! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11660854

 

The page for donations is here: http://www.justgiving.com/GaryBirdsall

[cotswoldsman]

Hope he raises lots of money Homelessness is only going to get worse with this government.

[Tim Lewis]

hope he can walk on water! the towpath is non existant in several places!

 

Exactly where between London and Birmingham is the towpath non existant?

 

Tim

[the grinch]

Exactly where between London and Birmingham is the towpath non existant?

 

Tim

 

unless there has been a dramatic amount of work done since I was last there, between Norton Junction and Braunston there was no path to talk of, plus there is no path through any tunnel except the horse tunnel above shrewley

[Dekazer]

So far so good, Gary set off from Berko at about 8 this morning and is aiming to get to Leighton Buzzard today. If you see him do say hello and I'm sure he'd be very grateful for a cup of tea

[Dekazer]

Gary's now at Wolverton, and it's starting to get harder going.

 

If you're on Twitter, you can follow Gary's progress at #garyswalk or by looking at The Pavement magazine on Facebook.

 

If you do him - he's got a big rucksack and will be looking knackered - and you're able to offer a sit down and a hot drink or meal I'm sure he'd be extremely grateful. And if you know anyone in the Daventry area who might be able to offer him some space for a tent or a hot meal, please do pass word along.

 

http://www.justgiving.com/garybirdsall

 

Thanks all

[geezer89]

how did gary do? Anyone know how much was raised?

[Dekazer]

how did gary do? Anyone know how much was raised?

 

Hallo! Apologies for not updating this thread sooner. Gary completed the walk - he's well chuffed. You can view some video diary entries he recorded at http://www.youtube.com/user/pavementtv

 

I haven't watched them all yet but will try to see the rest soon. I'm in one of them

 

Gary's now raised £865, which is awesome. His sponsorship page is still open at http://www.justgiving.com/garybirdsall The Pavement are very grateful to him for his hard work, and to all his sponsors!

 

Cheers,

 

Lucy