Hit The Road

HIT THE ROAD
Lea Valley Walk
Saturday, 3^rd May 2025

Hit the Road Just Giving PagE

This year was the 13th Hit the Road Walk and, I hope you all agree, another successful one.  The weather was fantastic and perfect for a walk along the River Lea and through parts of London.

At the start, in Cheshunt, we were welcomed at the Red Cow pub by Pat and Majella who opened early and supplied excellent refreshments. Before we left to start the walk they had already made a generous donation on our Just Giving site. They certainly set a precedent as we realised that a pub at the start as well as the end is the way forward. We assembled in the car park for Peter Luck’s speech before we left to start our journey to London. Thank you, also, to Fr Dominic Howarth for the blessing and Carol Chester for reminding us all how much the walk still means to her and the rest of the Chester family.

So, off we went. The level crossing being shut for a train meant that we had to start by using the footbridge. It wasn’t exactly, the steps at Wembley but I am sure that there were a few good photos taken there. The first part of the walk took us along the River Lea, all the way to the midpoint/start of the half walk at Markfield Park, near to Tottenham Hale. For miles, all you could see was green t-shirts with the TCT logo on the back. A short diversion through the site of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, where the Enfield rifle was made, was the only time that we left the river but, on such a lovely day, the company of the ducks and houseboats made it a peaceful walk.

At Markfield Park, it was pleasing the ‘base camp’ had been set up close to the River Lea tow path so that the full walkers did not have to deviate from the route at all. As usual, Peter Luck was there to start the half walk at 1pm.

The second part of the route continued along the River Lea all the way to Hackney Wick. Everyone enjoyed walking through this lively area. We then continued along the Hertford Union Canal to Victoria Park and then continued along the Regents Canal, into Shoreditch and through the City to Fenchurch Street Station and the welcome sight of the Tower of London and the finish point at the Brewdog Pub.  We would like to thank Brewdog for their donation to our fundraising.

As usual, there was a wonderful atmosphere in the pub, and everyone had the opportunity to catch up with people that they may not have seen since the previous year’s walk.  

These walks could not happen without the volunteers who help out on the day.  Kim Crane, Maria Davies, Sandra Francis, Annette Bacon and Dylan Scott have to be up very early to get to the start and then straight on to the midpoint to register people, answer their questions and make sure they have everything they need. Once again, Kevin Walsh drove the minibus for us.  At the Brewdog, Tony Peters and Christine Noddings were there to welcome and present certificates to the 659 walkers who had signed up this year.  If you were unable to collect your certificate, it is still available from the school. 

We would also like to thank Waitrose in Upminster for their donation of chocolate and sweets and the Campion chef for managing to persuade the companies he deals with to donate water and other snacks. If anyone can help with similar donations for next year, we would love to hear from you.

Fundraising:  Please return any sponsorship forms and cash (or cheques made payable to ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’) to the school’s Finance Office by Friday, 23rd May. If anyone has set up their own online donation page, please email bkenlin@thecampionschool.org.uk with the link.  This is simply to help us keep a tally of the total amount raised through this event. 

This year we had a sponsor, Three Mountains Electrical Limited, who generously contributed a substantial amount of money towards the cost of the t-shirts. If anyone would be interested in sponsoring us next year, please let us know.

Donations are still coming into the JustGiving site www.justgiving.com/page/HitTheRoad2025.  The final total for this year’s fundraising will be published on the school website after the May half-term holiday but it could well be more than £25,000. Thank you everyone for your amazing fundraising efforts.  Over the years, we have raised over £200,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust and, as a school community, we are immensely proud of this.

Photos:  If you have any walk photos that you would like posted on the school website, please upload to this Dropbox  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/smb97jpizl3ij4h6c68uo/ADZuLN-J6_cJ_FS1TRFsVjQ?rlkey=93dbjonnverdq02nu4mngtjgo&st=m4as32nk&dl=0

You will need to click on “Join Folder” and login/create an account to upload your images.  If that sounds like too much effort, please send them to me b.kenlin@thecampionschool.org.uk.  Alternatively, if you upload them to the Hit the Road Facebook page, we can forward them.  If you are not a member of this Facebook group yet, please search for ‘Hit the Road’ and ask to join.

We would love to see you all again next year and hope that the people who were not able to take part this year will do so next year on Saturday, 2nd May 2026.  Please make sure that you save the date.

Barbara Kenlin
Hit the Road Committee