The Saffery Rotary Walk took place on Saturday 10 June, and as one of Guernsey’s largest charity fundraising events, the event was a huge success with record-breaking numbers involved.
The Walk is one of the island’s landmark community events, with over 1,000 people taking part this year.
Early Walkers set off at 4.30am at the Guernsey Information Centre and most ended their walk at the Liberation Monument, where the final checkpoint was open between 11am and 9pm.
People of all ages and abilities took part, with nine-year-old Harry Wallace being the youngest participant to complete the full island circuit in both this and last year’s walk.
Lisa Vizia, Director at Saffery Champness, said: “We were thrilled with the turnout for this year’s Saffery Rotary Walk. So many islanders and many from further afield were involved, either as volunteers or walkers.
“We are very proud to run this as a fully inclusive event. Whilst not everybody sought to complete the 39-mile challenge, it was so rewarding to witness such a diversity of walkers achieve their particular goals.
“We were greeted with cool weather conditions, ideal for walkers on the day, making for a fantastic event.”
Simon Milsted, the chair of the Saffery Rotary Walk’s organising committee commented: “To see many people travelling from overseas to take on the challenge was incredible. People travelled from as far afield as South Africa and Barbados just to take part, such is the draw of our magnificent coastline. Local man, Mark Prevel, achieved an amazing feat completing two consecutive laps of the 39 mile route without a material break.
“We want to say a massive thank you to our wonderful volunteers and corporate sponsors without who the Walk could not have grown to be the major event that it is.
“Special thanks need to go to our event sponsor, Saffery Champness, whose generosity enables us to assure our walkers that every penny that they raise goes without deduction to this year’s 25 selected charities.
“So a final plea to our walkers; your job is not completely over until you have collected all the sponsorship that has been pledged to you. Please follow the instructions which can be found on our website or on the bottom of our sponsorship form.”
The amount of money raised from the walk will be confirmed over the coming weeks, but organisers are confident that the 25th Round Island Walk will be yet another record breaker.
