Walkers stay active (and cheer up tourists) on London challenge

A GROUP of women from Sonning Common and Kidmore End have completed a 25km walking challenge through London to raise money for charity.

The walk was organised by Amanda Watkins-Cooke, 45, who invited 10 other women from her walking netball and cricket teams to join her for a challenge to keep active through the autumn months.

On Saturday, October 26, the group, who called themselves “Pumpkin United”, took off from the Kia Oval in South London dressed as pumpkins for the Halloween-themed walk. They walked around Bermondsey, up through Wapping and Whitechapel and then through Blackfriars and Embankment and arrived back at the oval after five and a half hours.

Kirstie Wilson, who is a teaching assistant at Kidmore End Primary School, raised more than £400 for new netball bibs and playground equipment for her school netball club, which is now in its second year.

She said: “A lot of the girls from my Year 6 class are also in my netball club, so it was great to get to show them all my medal. The camaraderie that we had during the walk was just such good fun, we were walking through London where there are lots of tourists and I think that seeing a group of people dressed up as pumpkins just cheered everybody up.”

Mrs Watkins-Cooke said she wanted to do a challenge that would to encourage people to keep active through the colder months.

She said: “I just think it’s important for people’s physical and mental wellbeing, as going into autumn and winter is a difficult time, it gets dark early and it’s hard for some people. I’ve been playing cricket this year with the Kidmore End ladies’ cricket team and that had come to an end, so we were looking for something else to do as a bit of a challenge.

“It was brilliant fun, really really good. We all got medals and a nice hot meal at the end which was really nice.”

Mrs Watkins-Cooke opted not to raise money for this event, having completed a fundraiser the week before.

Two years ago, her father James, who had run the Heath and Watkins hardware store in Wood Lane, died aged 71 of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. To mark the anniversary of his death on October 18, Mrs Watkins-Cooke organised a charity walk from Sonning Common to the cheese shed in Nettlebed and back to raise money for research into mesothelioma.

She was joined by 35 members of her family and friends who raised more than £900.

Mrs Watkins-Cooke added: “We want to do something every year to mark the anniversary of his death. Last year we organised a walking netball match with walking footballers and we raised £1,800.”