Anne Clayton, her husband Richard and their granddaughter Mia Gellender arrived on the overnight ferry at 6am and, after finding a long-term parking space for their car, set off for the cliffs at about 6.30am.
Lunchtime found them taking time out at Renoir tea rooms at Moulin Huet.
Mrs Clayton worked in Guernsey as an agency nurse nearly 20 years ago at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital and during her 18 months here she arranged a fundraising trip up Kilimanjaro, as well as working to raise awareness of ovarian cancer symptoms after she developed the disease herself.
Although she and her husband now live in the Wye Valley, countryside that is perfect for walking, Mrs Clayton said she had not done much preparation for the round-the-island hike. ‘Richard walks more than I do. I’m a lot less fit now.’
This was only Miss Gallender’s second visit to the island after her first one in July this year. That was when she hit upon the idea of incorporating a fundraising walk into the charity drive being organised by her employer, Foray Motor Group, to celebrate its 25 years in business.
‘I didn’t think we’d actually do it,’ she said, after coming up with the name Miles For Meaning for the event.
She set an initial target of £1,000 and yesterday afternoon the total raised was more than £1,250.
Unlike a well-known fundraising walk around the island, the family did not plan to do theirs all in one day.
‘We’re hoping to do about eight miles today,’ said Mrs Clayton. The target was the German observation tower at Pleinmont before catching the bus back to Town, collecting their car and driving to their self-catering accommodation in St Martin’s.
Their goal is to complete the walk before Sunday.
She hoped that people would join them for part of the walk in the coming days.
Foray’s ‘Strive for 25’ campaign is aiming to raise £25,000 for five chosen charities – Dorset Mind, Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance, Margaret Green Animal Rescue, Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
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