Fairies to Fishes walkers raise money in Trevor’s memory

This was the second time the walk has taken place, and it was instigated last year by Trevor Mahy, who came up with the idea of a fundraising walk around the coast from the Fairy Ring at Pleinmont to the Aquarium.

But while about 25 people joined in the first walk, this year that number had grown substantially.

Mr Mahy took part in the walk last year while undergoing chemotherapy.

He passed away in April this year, but daughter Marcia Bale and daughter-in-law Lyndsey Mahy took over the organisation of the event in his memory.

While some walkers set out at 8.30am from Pleinmont, others were able to join in at various points along the route.

The youngest to take part was 10-year-old Noah Mahy, Mr Mahy’s grandson, who said he had promised his ‘Grandy’ that he would do it, and did the entire 20 miles.

‘I did a little bit last year,’ he said, recovering from his efforts at the Aquarium. ‘I carried a bucket this year and I got £119. I’m feeling a bit tired now.’

Mr Mahy’s widow, Rose, was again involved, returning to the role she played last year of keeping the walkers supplied with fluids: ‘I picked up the grand-kids too, as they’ve been dropping like flies,’ she said.

Also meeting up with the walkers around the route were members of the local 66 Gang biker group, of which Mr Mahy had been a member.

The event last year raised £8,000 and Lyndsey Mahy said that as of the day of the walk this year it had raised more than £1,500.

‘We’ve had people getting sponsorship forms and some companies have had more than one person walking and some had company sponsorship,’ she said.

‘It’s just been amazing. There were people walking from companies who we’d never met, as well as different families and others. There were even children on scooters.’

The walk took place in 27C heat on a July day last year so Mrs Mahy said the plan had been to move it to early June in the hope that it would be cooler, but the temperature on Saturday reached about 25C.

Many walkers took to the nearby bathing pools on arriving at La Vallette. Among them was Debbie Robilliard, who said she normally did the Pink Ladies’ Sunset Walks and Fairies to Fishes was the longest one she had done: ‘I wanted to support my best friend Marcia,’ she said.

‘We started at the Fairy Ring and got here at about 10 past three. We made good time.’

Marcia Bale said her dad would have been delighted at the response to the event this year: ‘It’s been a brilliant day. Dad would have been absolutely chuffed to bits.’