It’s been 10 years since our Walk to London for The Laura Centre raised over £10,000! In April 2013, five members of Wathalls, supported by other members of staff, started from Derby on Monday 22^nd and finished outside Big Ben on the Friday. Fay Bloor, who recently celebrated her 10^th anniversary with us too, reflects:

“I can’t believe that it’s been ten years already! I remember the very first training walk we did in the September before, we walked 8 miles around Carsington Reservoir and all of us were limping by the end of it. We had no idea how we were going to manage 3 times the distance in one go, let alone 5 days running.

“I’d only officially joined the company at the start of September and was helping prepare displays for our open day. Helen walked past and asked “Fay, do you want to walk to London?” With my mind on the task in hand, I replied “Yeah ok” and only later thought about what I’d roped myself into. It was a great opportunity to get to know my new colleagues better, as we were out on training walks together every other weekend, seeing much of our beautiful countryside in the process.

“We’d trained all winter, come rain or snow, so when the week of the walk arrived and we were hit with a heatwave, everyone’s boots fit differently and we practically had shares in Compeed Blister Plasters, but managed to laugh our way through the pain.

I don’t think the sight of Big Ben will ever not make my knees ache, but walking Derby to London was a fantastic experience and it was great to raise all that money to help bereaved parents and children get the support they need.”