The annual Fun Walk took place at Barleylands Farm yesterday (Sunday, 8 September) when walkers and stallholders raised money for numerous charities and good causes. There were lots of refreshments, music courtesy of Gateway 978, a field bordered by stalls and a variety of other tents. Billericay’s Town Crier, Jim Shrubb, helped proceedings along. As usual, medals and certificates were awarded to the walkers at the finish by Hallmark volunteers.
John Baron MP said a few words of thanks to various parties including the ’Family of Volunteers’ who had been running the event since 2002, the bonus pot sponsors, Barleylands Farm, and to the Basildon, Billericay and Wickford Council for Voluntary Service (BBWCVS) which was running the event this year for the first time on behalf of The Fun Walk Trust. John and Jim then led the walk off.
Although The Fun Walk Trust (a charity) has secured £35,000 from local businesses for this year’s bonus pot, the total monies raised by the near-90 participating charities and good causes will not be known until the Presentation ceremony on 22 November 2019 when the charities will collect their bonus pot cheques. As usual, the bonus pot sponsors and local press will be invited.
John said:
“Once again this has been a tremendous team effort. Our thanks go to our ’Family of Volunteers’ for getting the Fun Walk to this great stage. But we now welcome and thank Chris Evans and his marvellous team at the BBWCVS for taking over the running of the event, and we look forward to working with them in future to build on this event even further.
Our thanks go to our bonus pot sponsors who this year are Swan Housing Group, c2c Greater Anglia, Anisha Grange Care Home, Brown & Carroll, Tunnelcraft, Leonardo MW, Star Pubs and Bars, McDonalds Restaurants Basildon, RSE Building Services and others. Their £35,000 will help many good causes.
My thanks also go to the walkers and stallholders, to the Marshalls, to the wonderful team at Barleylands, to Gateway 978, to Jim Shrubb, to the Air Cadets for parking duties, to the Essex Chordsmen for their singing, to Hallmark Care Homes for the certificates and medals, and to the BBWCVS and committee members. We now wait to see total monies raised from the charities.“
Chris Evans, BBWCVS Chief Officer, said:
“We are thrilled to help support and grow this annual event. It was super talking to the many charities represented and learning about the massive difference this event makes. Our thanks also to the Mayor of Basildon, David Burton-Sampson for his support.“
