£176.50 raised so far!

Thank you Vanessa Walker for pushing our total to £176.50.

£171.50 raised so far!

When Mum and Dad picked me up from school they told me two more people have donated for Luton Foodbank. The total is now £171.50. What a lovely start to the week!

Thank you Deborah Garrand and thank you Connor!

Training Walk 2

Yesterday evening we went on our second training walk. We started from the hospital (Dad was there for a scan) and stopped to get a couple of tins from Tesco for our dinner before heading up the hill from the roundabout at the end of Hatters Way. While we were at Tesco we saw people collecting for Luton Foodbank and we said hello. One of them said he recognised me.

We reached out planned camping site very quickly, and pitched our tent in the woods just as it was getting dark. It was VERY cold out but when we got into the tent and into our sleeping bags we were nice and warm. I fell asleep straight away.

In the middle of the night I woke up and Dad said "Can you hear that?" and there was an owl hooting very nearby.

We couldn't get back to sleep so we decided to pack up the tent and continue our route. We walked through a golf course by the light of the moon and went through two villages before going through Stockwood Park and finishing up back in Luton. When we got home we had a hot drink and a biscuit then went to bed.

We covered 11.73km between the hospital and home.

Asda are going to let foodbank back in their shops

Here's some more great news. Asda said "We are reinstating all previously existing unmanned collections in store, eg Guide Dogs for the Blind collections, food banks, Marie Curie collection trays."

When they said foodbank trolleys weren't allowed any more, there was a petition and 88,000 people signed it. And the mayor of Liverpool wrote to them and said he wasn't going to shop in Asda any more and he was going to tell everyone in Liverpool not to go shopping there.

I found out about the good news here...

 

Show your support for Asda's u-turn by clicking here: Tweet

£121.50 raised!

Thanks to Zoë Jones, Dirk's sponsor total rose yet again this morning.
The response to Dirk's fundraising has been so great that I think it might be appropriate to raise the target a bit.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed.

£116.50 raised!

Dirk's in bed now, of course, but I know he'll be thrilled to learn that his total went up in the night. £116.50 donated so far, rising to £145.63 when Gift Aid is factored in. Just incredible!

Special thanks to Diana Leighton.

£90 raised!

I can't believe we've reached £90 already! Many thanks, Geraldine & Roger Rees.

£85 raised!

Amazing! We are already at £85 which is more than 60% of our target! 

Many thanks to Lisa Whyte, to Grandma and Grandpa, and to Elaine Barral.

Asda doesn't walk the walk

Asda's baffling decision to stop allowing foodbanks to leave collection trolleys in its stores has triggered a huge backlash. The consequences for those in need of foodbank help don't need to be spelt out. But apparently the stain on Asda's reputation does - at least it does to its management team, which has yet to reach a consensus on what reasons to give.

Please read the full story in The Guardian, and sign the petition on 38 Degrees.

Shame on Asda! You can call 'em out by clicking this button: Tweet

£50 raised!

Wow! After only a couple of days, £50 has already been donated. (Total £62 including Gift Aid.)

Many thanks to Viv Groves, Debbie Russell, Jasper Withnail, Mum and Dad, Anna Childs, Mark Childs, Angus Peachey, Isaac Peachey, and Yvonne and Stuart Hetherington.

Please sponsor me

I will be walking the Ridgeway path in the summer holidays to raise money for my favourite good cause.

If you can sponsor me on the walk, it would be a fantastic way to help families who are struggling. You can make a donation via Virgin Money Giving site here:

www.virginmoneygiving.com/dirkwithnail

What we're taking

We are going to try to take as little as possible because 87 miles is a long way to carry anything. Below is a list of some of the things we have decided to take:

Sleeping
Groundsheet (extra)
Mattresses (and repair kit)
Sleeping bags
Tent

Toilet
Hand gel
Toilet roll
Towel
Trowel
Wipes

Navigation
Compass
Guidebook
Map

Emergency
Bank card
Cash
First-aid kit
Phone

Eating & Drinking
Food
Gas canister
Kettle Lighter
Stove
Water containers

Clothing
Boots
Hoodies
Lightweight trousers
Long-sleeved t-shirts
Pants
Thin (inner) socks
Thick (outer) socks

Sun protection
Sun hats
Sunscreen

and, of course, rucksacks to put it all in!

New boots!

It's my birthday today, and I got some stuff for the walk:

 

Proper walking boots



My own compass



Three pairs of hiking socks

I also got the ukulele I'd asked for, but I won't be taking it on the walk with me!

Sun hat

My mum has ordered me and Dad a sun hat each. They are good because there is a flap at the back to keep your neck covered, and they are made of special material the keep insects away.