The Two-Week Long Walk 6

Where do I start?

When I set out on this journey I had planned to walk on the 17th October for the Glasgow Derby however catching COVID wasn’t part of my plans. Thankfully after isolating and adhering to the guidelines in place I have recovered and believed I was back to full fitness, more on this later.

In my absence, for the walk on the 17th Gordon offered to step in for me and walk with Jane and Michael from the Celtic Foundation. We had planned this leg of the journey for weeks and I was disappointed not be able to join them but I knew they were in safe hands and the walk was a great success. The Celtic Foundation do some great work in the community and their Football for Good Fund has raised over £900k this year. As part of this we agreed to create a one off JustGiving page for this game and share what we raised, an amazing £893 was split eventually between us.

As I missed out on the 17th it now meant I had a catch up walk to do, I arranged this for Sunday 1st November. Celtic weren’t at home but had a game so this was the next best thing. In recents weeks as the walks progress I have been overwhelmed by people’s generosity and willingness to join me, maybe they just want to do one before the weather changes but I now have a list of names wanting to take part. This has meant that a couple of guests may join me per game, making sure we are cautious and stick to the guidelines. For my catch up walk I was joined by Stephen Connelly from One Stop Access Ltd and my cousin Declan Haughey.

Despite Storm Aiden causing havoc across the country over the weekend, we were very fortunate that it stayed dry for us. Hospice Ambassador and friend Martin McHugh has been an amazing support since I started the challenge and showed his generosity once again by sponsoring Stephen. However, with it being Halloween weekend this sponsorship was on the condition that he done the walk dressed as the controversial Donald Trump. This led to a few strange looks and the occasional wave as we made our way to the east end of Glasgow. Although making it to Paradise in a record time of 2 hours and 7 minutes, this was the first walk that I struggled with, the effects of COVID had caught up with me and I really struggled over the last two miles. Thankfully the guys made sure I got there in one piece.

Again, I would like to express my gratitude and heartfelt thanks to the team from Celtic Foundation, Stephen and the amazing team at One Stop Access, who really promoted the walk and raised a phenomenal amount for us as well as donating the PPE modelled by us to the Hospice, Declan who raised awareness of the Hospice whilst also bringing in numerous donations and to everyone who continues to support me along the way. I honestly couldn’t do this without all of your support.

Thankfully, I now have a few weeks to regain some more of my fitness as the next walk isn’t until the 5th of December.

Take care and stay safe.

Brian

You can donate now – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/brian-haughey