Huge congratulations to our founder Steve Dayman, who rolled up in Stonehouse today looking as if he’d just popped out to the shops, at the end of his 17-day 344-mile walk from Morpeth
And we’re thrilled to report that not only has he arrived safely at his destination but he’s also cracked his £50,000 fundraising target, bringing to £2 million the amount he’s raised from walks alone towards the charity’s work over the last 30 years.
A huge thank you too to everyone who dug deep to help him on the way and in particular those supporters up and down the country who joined him for one of the legs and helped shake the collection buckets.
We would also like to thank Steve’s back up team, who either walked with him or drove the support vehicles, including Steve Fear, Carl Monteith, Bob Birstall and Phil and Judith Cook.
An inspiration
At a welcome reception on his arrival in Stonehouse our chief executive, Liz Brown, said: “Steve is an inspiration – he’s to be commended for taking the tragedy of his own loss and helping to create an organisation that has worked so tirelessly to fight back against this disease over the last 30 years.
“He’s dedicated his life to helping to create a better understanding of this disease.”
Supporters and Meningitis Now staff crammed into Stonehouse Community Hall – the town where the charity was formed 30 years ago – to welcome him back from his epic walk, which has seen him move south and west from his starting point in Northumberland at the rate of about 20 miles a day.
Along the way he has visited Easington, Northallerton, Ilkley, Nelson, Glossop, Ibstock, Tamworth and Inkberrow – towns whose initial letters spell out the word MENINGITIS.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has helped to make this 30th anniversary walk happen”, Steve said, “and in particular everybody who has donated along the way – it’s through your generosity that we’ll make an impact on this devastating disease.”
If you’d like to add to Steve’s fundraising total you can do so here
