Gifts & Greetings Review was delighted to take part in the Cardgains Olympic Challenge, which took place on June 21 and involved a long walk through sun and rain from London’s Putney Bridge to Tower Bridge and back.
58 walkers set out on behalf of the Cystinosis Foundation UK, with sponsorship pledges that look set to reach a whopping £17,000 as they tackled the 30km route along the River Thames. The location was chosen for its appropriateness to this Olympic/Jubilee year and – being ‘down south’ – brought many new faces to the event in addition to regular fund raisers.
We had a lovely day out walking around and setting the world with Really Good’s Lisa Shoesmith and GCA chief Sharon, who took us on one or two interesting detours en route and proved to be a good pace-setter! It was also fun keeping an eye on the bubbly Qualatex balloon brigade, who made up a very entertaining team!
Cardgains joint managing director Chris Dyson said it was “Another fantastically well-supported event this year with our biggest turnout yet! It was great to see so many ‘new faces’ (ie, first time Cardgains charity walkers) throughout the day.”
The walk passed many famous landmarks throughout including the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Battersea Power Station, Tower of London, MI5, Millennium Bridge and Boris’ Johnson’s massive Headquarters!
Walkers chose when they set off somewhere between 8am and 10am and all 58 returned safely, with walk times varying from just under 6 hours to almost 10, depending on whether individuals partook of the various famous ‘watering holes’ dotted along the river!
Walking on the hard streets made for plenty of blisters – we certainly had a few of our own to show for it – and a few aching bones, but it was well worth the effort for this excellent charity.
After the walk quiz sheets were handed out for the ‘Jubilympic Quiz’, which caused a lot of interest. There were forty extremely difficult questions on The Royals, The Olympics and General Knowledge. Rocket Science is easier and suffice it to say we didn’t win!!
Debbie Allen and Deborah Beedham of Cardgains were the brainboxes who DID win, and they each received a fantastic prize of a Cardgains Charity Challenge 2012 t-shirt signed by Allan Wells, our Olympic 100m Gold medal winner from Moscow Olympics in 1980. A real keepsake that money can’t buy!
The day, which was filled with the fun, good cheer and camaraderie typical of Cardgains events, concluded with a celebration meal in the evening and the traditional medal presentation.
A big well done to all the walkers and many thanks once again to Cardgains for organising another successful challenge. A big thank you also to everyone who made donations – if anyone else would still wanting to donate to the charity, you can send a cheque payable to ‘Cardgains Charity Account’ to Cardgains Head Office or visit www.justgiving.com and enter Cardgains in the ‘search for a friend’ section.
This year’s walkers included:
Alan Holmes, Icon Art, Alex Ashman, Wishing Well, Amanda Tremlett, Paper Rose, Andrew Duckworth, Really Good, Andy Fletcher, Agent, Angela Stargatt, House of Cards, Anna Bubnova, Pioneer, Anne Dudley, Cardgains, Anneke Driscoll, Lucilla Lavender, Bill Greeno, Quitting Hollywood, Charlotte Cowell; on behalf of i1i Events Group, Chris Dyson, Cardgains, Chris French, Nigel Quiney, Chris Houfe, Paperhouse, David Hicks, Really Good Ltd, Debbie Allen, Cardgains, Debbie Moore, House of Cards, Deborah Beedham, Cardgains, Dominick Brophy, Hotchpotch, Emily Blowfield, , Paper Rose, Jag Dhillon, Pioneer, James Burgess, Carte Blanche, Jill Williamson, House of Cards, John Belcher, House of Cards, Jon Dudley, Cardgains, Kevin Froment, House of Cards, Lisa Gilbert, House of Cards, Lisa Marcuccio, Really Good, Lisa Shoesmith, Real Good Team, Louise Isherwood, History & Heraldry, Mark Timlett, Woodmansterne, Michelle Comerford, Michelle Stephens, Pioneer, Mike Apicella, SMS, Miles Robinson, House of Cards, Nathan Hitchcock, Second Nature, Neil Hirst, Cardgains, Nick Carey,Abacus Cards, Nick Leek,Nigel Quiney, Nigel Williamson, House of Cards, Penny Shaw, Cardgains, Peter Goodman, SMS, Rachel Rissbrook, Pioneer, Richard Ashman, Wishing Well, Richard Marsden, History & Heraldry, Robert Beaumont, House of Cards, Rozane Barnard, Pioneer, Ryan Ferris, House of Cards, Sharon Little, GCA, Sheeta Li, GCA, Simon Barnes, House of Cards, Simon Wagstaff, ICG, Steve Grocott, Cardgains, Suzie French, Xpressions, Tony , UKG
