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The Jo Walters Trust held their

St Andrew's Ball

at

The Edinburgh Academy

42 Henderson Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5BL

Saturday 26th November 2022, at 6 p.m

dancers

On the 26th of November, the Jo Walters Trust held a St Andrew's Ball in Edinburgh at The Edinburgh Academy, It was a superb evening of dinner, an auction, and dancing to the terrific SuperGrouse band. Just so lovely to be back 

We are delighted that the evening raised over £8,500 which will help fund more grants for outdoor education and maths in the coming years. 

Thanks in particular to:

And to all the generous donors of auction lots and raffle prizes. For a copy of the brochure, please click here)

Some photographs from the evening

Boxing day to Hogmanayreduced

What is it?

The trustees of the Jo Walters Trust will head out for a fund-raising Yuletide yomp, every day between Boxing Day and Hogmanay. But it will be so much more worthwhile if we can persuade our friends around the world to do the same. So sign up, get outside, increase your festive footfall and rack up some mince-pie fuelled mileage! With prizes on offer and oodles of kudos available, we'd love you to do a walk, perhaps make a donation and help us reach our overall mileage target for the six days from Boxing Day to Hogmanay.

Following on from last year’s stellar efforts, we shall be striding out with The Proclaimers’ “but I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more” ringing over ben and glen (or hill and dale, for those south of the border).

And the small print: be sure to do this in a COVID safe way, adhering to whatever regulations are in place where you are.

Read more ...

Boxing Day to Hogmanay December 2020

Everyone loves the idea of a family Boxing Day walk, but the reality is often overtaken by turkey leftovers, the lure of the new presents and re-runs of The Snowman. In December 2020, we came together virtually to walk as many miles as we could to raise money and have a nice time for the Jo Walters Trust. We had initially hoped to walk a combined total of 500 miles or so - the distance from where Jo grew up in Aberdeenshire, to Bristol where she went to University, but in the end we managed over 1000, and raised £2,983.25 for the trust - to put this into context, it should fund our annual round of Maths grants for 2021.

 

The trustees are so incredibly grateful to all the walkers, mince pie eaters, ploggers, scavenger hunters - and hugely importantly - the wonderfully generous people who sponsored all the above!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

On the important point of prizes - the prize committee, after deliberated long and hard came to their final decisions as follows:

  • The prize for furthest distance walked (6 jars of award winning marmalade from Kincardine Castle Kitchen): Hugh Lort-Phillips.
  • Most mince pies consumed (2 x Mr Roberelli CDs of your choice) - Team Socks and Sandalls
  • Best Plog-olution Plogging (some chocolate brownies again from Kincardine Kitchen): Team Bristol (Gilly Hanking-Evans).

Read more ...

Vicky Duke's North West 500

The Plan...

Vickys Route MapThis epic adventure all stemmed from an inspiring talk by Mark Beaumont (global cyclist extraordinaire) who had just completed a top to bottom bike ride of Africa – the talk also showcased Scotland's equivalent of Route 66 around the North Coast – it looked stunning, suddenly it seemed do-able - I got carried away! So what better way to mark a major life-change than to hop on my bike and raise money for a fantastic wee charity set up for Joanna Walters who died tragically young at 28 in a bike accident in 2010. For me as I bowl along it's all about remembering Jo, who grew up with our children and how she made the very most out of life. As you will see from the JWT website they have supported manyprojects which would have been close to Jo's heart from Aberdeenshire to Madagascar and beyond.

The defined 500 mile route seemed a step too far so my trusty roadie has refined this to 450 although sadly there are just as many hills! My route kicks off at the end of May in Inverness (see map), heading west past Achnasheen and Kinlochewe to Gairloch. Then north past Ullapool, Inverkirkaig and Lochinver, Stoer and Scourie to Durness on the NW corner. Along the north coast to John o'Groats then finally down the east coast past Wick, Brora and Golspie towards Inverness - phew! The distance, the mountains, the head winds not to mention the midges will be challenging but one thing’s for sure, it will be worth it! If you feel like sponsoring me (every penny of which will support the very worthy JWT) this would keep me going far more than any of Peter's acclaimed flapjacks and I honestly won’t be making a habit of it, this is a one-off!!

The execution...

Here's a flavour of the journey with far too many unflattering photos - annoyingly you have to go to the 'i for info' tab for details:
https://goo.gl/photos/1D6eaZBF42sz2V458

The Success...

Safely home! The strong head winds made for long days in the saddle combined with plenty of steep ascents, not to mention panniers full of equipment and clothing for every eventuality - this was the North of Scotland after all! So much for dawdling along stopping here and there for a spot of culture - just getting to our B & B (in time for supper) meant a good 9-hour day on the bikes!

However what kept us going was the backdrop of spectacular mountains and fabulous views over sea and lochs, constant birdsong and delicious smell of bog myrtle and heady aroma of coconut from the gorse but above all the encouragement of both friends and the strangers we met along the road. We couldn't help noticing we were the oldest ones doing this by some margin but we did earn respect!

Really happy to say that the total raised for the Jo Walters Trust thanks to everyone's generosity and including cash, cheques and pledges, is over £3,000. It meant so much to be doing this in Jo's footsteps.

Lots of love

Vicky

Our Thanks...

Huge thanks to Vicky and Peter and all their friends and supporters for the generous sponsorship, the effort and organisation and the committment.  Well done!

 

fundraiser1

Swim from Arran to Troon on Saturday, 1st October 2016 by the ArranTrooNautics. 

Participants:

 Swimmers Arran Troon Group Finish

Successful, dressed and ready for a party, swimmers left to right: 

Back row: Whirly Marshall, Lorna Laidlaw, Barbara Johnston, Joanna Clapton, Annie Howie, Mark Johnston

Middle row: Team Doctor: Emily Farquhar, Vanessa Lawrence, Rhona Quarm, Caoimhe Hunter-Blair, Bea Bound

Front row (kneeling): Lucy Johnston, Katherine Self, Alice Vernon

Out of shot: Jade Perry who joined to be a coach for the other team but in true star fashion, also took to the water herself. 

 

To see individuals' own perspectives of the swim please click on their names above to be taken to their write up.

Read more ...

big day out wording 

On 22nd May 2016, the Cuninghame family very generously agreed to allow the Jo Walters Trust to use the grounds of Caprington Castle, near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, to hold a day of family fun and activities. 

big day out108

The day was an enormous success, with over 500 people enjoying the stunning grounds in incredible weather, and making full use of all the activiities on offer. Around £1,500 was raised for the Jo Walters Trust, with a further £750 for Marie Curie, and more for various other charities involved on the day, including Feedback Madgascar.

 

Families were treated to a great range of activities including watching living history with William Wallace and his army in their training camp with The Swords of Dalriada. Miniature Shetland ponies Floyd and Johnnie were there giving rides to little pony lovers. Budding artists painted pictures of the castle with The Little Art School and sports fans played beat the goalie, joined in the race around the castle and participated in a treasure hunt. Owl Magic were there with their beautiful owls and there were many fun rides and games for all the family. Queen Elsa was also at the event providing a fabulous facepainting service!

Kincardine Cookery provided a delicious barbeque with Marie Curie hosting a ‘Blooming Great Tea Party’.

The organisers would like to say a huge thank you to all the locals who helped in so many ways, from donating raffle prizes, their time and to sponsors Peacock Salt/SaltHouse and PepperMongers and the Cuninghame Family of Caprington.

 

Photos from the event, by kind permission of Tom Cairns Photography:

 

The organisers would particularly like to thank the following for their very generous time and support:
 

And for donating raffle prizes:

 
 

An Unofficial JWT Burns' Night in Bristol


rotary burns nightAargh - we haven't organised a Burns' Night celebration yet and we're having ceilidh withdrawal symptoms.

Well, thank goodness the Kingswood Rotary Club is organising one on Saturday 23rd January, at BAWA in Filton, Bristol.

A mere £29 for a 3 course Burns' supper & a dance. Not a fundraiser for JWT, but a bit of fun! Full details to download here.

They'll need to know numbers fairly soon, so get in touch with Gilly Hanking-Evans ASAP to get your tickets and let's get a couple of tables together for the supporters of the JWT.

big day out

On Saturday the 6th of June 2015, the Jo Walters Trust held the Big Day Out at Caprington Castle, in the grounds of this gorgeous castle in Ayrshire, by kind permission of the Cuninghame family. 

Gallery - 112 photos (click to expand)

While the weather was not ideal, we were thrilled that so many people came along and managed to have a fantastic time. We are enormously grateful to 
  • The Cuninghame family who threw open the stunning grounds of Caprington Castle for the event
  • All the lovely people who turned out determined to enjoy themselves, despite the weather!
  • The superb committee who worked incredibly hard to bring the entire event together
  • Finesse Marquees - who made the entire event possible by providing their wonderful (and huge!) marquee and their invaluable expertise at an extremely generous rate

The attractions, many of whom did not charge us for their very valuable time and expertise:

Our sponsors, who so generously supported the event:

We are pleased to say that the event raised several hundred pounds (the final total is still being calculated) and the Jo Walters Trust will donate this, as well as the remaining funds required, to pay for 10 children from Ayrshire to take part on a 5 day residential course with the Outward Bound Trust
 
There is already talk of doing it all again next year - so if you would like to be involved, please get in touch with us -info@jowalterstrust.org.uk

Edinburgh Art Weekend

A report in from one of the star auction lots from the Jo Walters Trust St Andrew's Ball in November:

Bernard (Flanagan) Williams, the head of Christie's in Scotland, gave David and Mary Parson and their friends, a fantastic week-end in Edinburgh, with a guided tour of Edinburgh's best art collections and two very hospitable nights at their house. Enormous thanks again to Louise and Flanagan for putting up this brilliant prize, and to the Parsons for buying it. Here's a photograph of them all at Jupiter Artland which they were able to visit despite it not officially being open yet, thanks to the owner being a friend of Flanagan's.

Jupiter Artland with Flanagan

Vicky Duke, Mary Parson, David Parson, Louise Williams, Rupert Van der Horst, Flanagan, Verity, Peter Duke, Angela Van der Horst

peaks and penguinsA Talk at Tullynessle Village Hall

Friday 6th March, at 7pm

Tickets £10 includes a glass of wine

£5 for children under 16

Buy your tickets online now, here,

or telephone Verity Walters on 019755 62246 to pay by cheque.

polly murray

Polly Murray: Antarctica, Everest and Beyond

At 26, Polly Murray became the first Scottish woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Three years earlier, she was the first person to Telemark ski off the summit of Mount McKinley. She has explored the heart of the Amazon rainforest and skied across remote Arctic islands; as well as taking part in major Antarctic and Arctic sailing expeditions. A truly inspirational speaker, whose stories are matched by her photographic skills.

All proceeds will go the Jo Walters Trust.

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