Sal raises £1241 to reimagine parks
"I have such warm memories of playing in parks as a kid or as a dad with my children. Maybe it’s the warmth of those early memories that drew me to these places but with the passing of my father in 2009 and my little sister in 2016, I truly relied on Bristol's parks...Looking back, what struck me most was the sense of calm I felt after completing this journey. It seemed to free me from the stress of day to day life, the same way sitting in a park watching life go by does."
Why I decided to take on this challenge
I have such warm memories of playing in parks as a kid or as a dad with my children. Maybe it’s the warmth of those early memories that drew me to these places but with the passing of my father in 2009 and my little sister in 2016, I truly relied on Bristol's parks which Your Park is reimagining, to relax, gather my thoughts and contemplate life.
I never realised how much I relied on parks until I read an article about Your Park Bath & Bristol on BBC News. I guess I’d never thought about the preventative benefits of having access to green spaces during times of personal stress. The “what if” and thoughts of not having access struck a chord and got me interested in Your Park.
I think everyone should have access to parks, which are safe and provide activities for all the local community to enjoy. For as long as I can remember, Parks have been there to serve this purpose.
I’m glad Your Park are investing their time and energy into reimagining parks in Bristol and Bath, and is the reason why I wanted to help raise funds and awareness.
What I did
So, I raised funds for Your Park by walking from Westward Ho! in Devon, to Hayle in Cornwall. It was a 235km walk along the South West Coastal path. The journey took 8 days and miraculously, I enjoyed most of the British summer during that period!
I’ve only ever done one or two day walks previously and overestimated my ability to cover ground consistently. At first this was due to the terrain - some sections are spectacular but as physically demanding as any cycling route I’ve done in the Alpes, especially given I was carrying all my camping gear. As the terrain softened it was my feet that progressively hurt more and slowed me down!
The journey
Although I was expecting the best bit to be the views, it was the people I met. People were interested in my journey and also talked about theirs. They gave handy tips about the terrain, café’s and camping spots ahead.
The lowest point was getting ill on the last day. I had pushed myself and hadn't slept enough due to a wet and windy night. A stomach bug meant I spent a couple of nights in Porthtowan. I was definitely concerned that I would not complete the journey in one trip but I thankfully bounced back after a lot of sleep and completed the last 26km walk to Hayle on the 8th day.
Looking back, what struck me most was the sense of calm I felt after completing this journey. It seemed to free me from the stress of day to day life, the same way sitting in a park watching life go by does.
Thank you!
We are so thankful to Sal for taking on this huge challenge to support our work. These funds have brought us much closer to meeting our goal for our Reimagining Parks campaign.
Find out how you can follow in Sal's footsteps and support our campaign below...
Support the campaign
There are so many ways you can support the campaign, from donating to completing a life changing challenge like Sal.
Find out more
Learn more about the campaign and what we are achieving with Sal's and our donors' support.
