Congratulations and thank you to everyone who took part in the CRY Heart of London Bridges Walk on Sunday 18th July, led by CRY Patron and international soprano, Kathryn Harries.
A record 878 adults, children and dogs took part this year. Most of the participants, as usual, were taking part in memory or support of a young person – although we also had a number of new participants who simply wanted to support CRY as a good cause.
The day started with check-in at the beautiful Victoria Embankment Gardens. The participants then picked up a CRY balloon and made their way to the bandstand for speeches by Alison Cox MBE (CRY Chief Executive) and Kathryn Harries (right).
This was followed by a minute’s silence and then a group warm up, once again led by the legendary Kirk Douglas, fitness instructor. On the stage with Kirk to encourage everyone to join in were; Luciano Arenare, Sarah Bates, Ellen Clabburn, Wayne Griffiths, Nema Hafezi-Bakhtiari, Helena Lacey, Alice O’Driscoll, Sian Regan, Jamie Sanders and Ketan Shanti.
In the meantime, the press team were busy taking photographs and interviewing groups for local press coverage.
After picking up a bottle of water and cereal bars, the walkers set off in small groups. The final group, doing the shorter wheelchair friendly route, was led by CRY Representative, Martin Appleby. This route had to be revised at the last minute due to engineering works at Blackfriars Bridges and repairs to the lift at Millennium Bridge.
After crossing Golden Jubilee, Westminster, Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges, there were crisps and drinks available for the walkers to top up their energy levels at the water station. Participants made their way to the finish at the stunning Hays Galleria, having crossed London Bridge and Tower Bridge, passing HMS Belfast.
Certificates and bars of chocolate were handed out by Foresters volunteers and a fresh fruit punch, made by volunteer Koula, was served.
The staff and volunteers on the information and merchandise stalls had a very busy day and attracted a lot of interest from tourists and other visitors.
We are very grateful to; St Martins Property Company; CB Richard Ellis; Westminster City Council Parks Office and Events Team; Foresters; Chubb Insurance and Sainsbury’s St Clare’s, Hampton for sponsoring the event, either by providing the venues or making donations towards the costs of the event, refreshments and snacks.
Thank you also to the Hays Galleria businesses that agreed to display leaflets, balloons and CRY collection boxes at their premises for this event.
A huge thank you to all the CRY staff who helped out on the day and to the following volunteers for all their help before, during and after the event: Martin Appleby; Nigel Bennett; Nick Bond; Emma Brown; Paul Clabburn; Tim Collie; Lorraine Connor; Kirk Douglas; Philip Eastty; Vernon Elmes; Fran Griffin; Claire Griffin; Karla Griffith; Carol Grimsdale; Lauren Harvey; Barbara Holland; Jim Holland; David Howell; Rita Howell; Bethany Laws; Nicola Lewis; Koula Louki; Irena McCabe; Maureen McGregor; Patsy Mourtzinos; Joelle Owusu; Diana Parratt; Harold Parratt; Andrew Regan; Sian Regan; Zoë Rodd; Alyson Stokes; Christine Tolley; Mark Tolley; Sue Walton.
Volunteers helped with deliveries, pre-event telephone calls, assembling walk packs, marshalling, registration, balloon inflation, making and serving punch, handing out water, securing products on our behalf, etc. We really couldn’t run an event of this size without the help of our dedicated volunteers.
We hope you like the photos as much as we do. There are some fantastic shots this year with the backdrop of the beautiful blue sky and sunshine we were lucky enough to experience on the day. If you managed to take any photos and would like us to include them on the website, please send them to [email protected] with the subject ‘Bridges Walk 2010 photos’.
Rebecca Zouvani, CRY Fundraising Manager
