Fundraising for Baca: First Hike Complete

Local charity Baca has launched their 3000 mile challenge once more this summer in an effort to increase funding for their important work here in Loughborough. Any money raised by sponsorship of their supporters getting out and getting active, will go towards help for young people seeking asylum and safety in Loughborough. 

This year we are some of those supporters! We hope to walk a combined 300 miles as a team in order to raise money for Baca. For more information on their work and our connection to them check out our introduction to the 3000 mile challenge and how we are hoping to help. 

Last Friday we completed our first milestone in our contribution to Baca’s challenge by walking a combined distance of 75 miles!

The First Challenge

Our hope is to cover the 300 miles over as few walks as possible, after all - this is supposed to be a challenge! This means each walk has to cover a substantial distance and be tackled as a team. Given that each of us are trading our swivel chairs and computer screens for hiking boots, we wanted to start on a relatively flat route to give us the best chance of covering a large amount of ground.

This meant that our first walk saw us traversing north along the banks of the river Soar, following the canal towpath from Loughborough to Long Eaton and back again. True to plan, the ground was flat and we saw lots of Heron, fishermen and narrow boats. However the humid weather and lack of shade presented its own challenges. Cattle and Sheep along the way also created a fair bit of excitement for Rachael who was attached to our resident Health & Wellness Officer Willow the dog. Thankfully the very large bull sprawled across the path seemed too tired in the heat to be bothered to give chase.

After roughly 6 and a half hours of walking we had completed roughly 18 miles each. We were all very warm, and in need of a long cool drink. With varying shades of sunburn and a range of blisters. Even WIllow was too tired to chase her stick. After a restorative beer and cider we were all able to hobble home. We definitely have our work cut out for us, but we made good time and are determined to go the distance! With 75 miles completed, we have 225 miles to go and we would love your support as we complete them.

How Can You Support Us?

If you would like to help make the sunburn and blisters feel that little bit better, please consider donating towards our challenge through our justgiving page. Any amount no matter how small is gratefully received and very much appreciated. If you are eligible to do so please also consider adding gift aid to your donation to claim more money towards Baca’s work directly from the taxman. Once you have donated you can check out our page in order to track our progress and see if we can reach our goal of £3000 for 300 miles.