John, Kev, and Rich, Three Old Fernebergians (the term for alumni of Farnborough Grammar School), are walking across England coast to coast, through three national parks (Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire Moors) on only public pathways as set out by Alfred Wainwright. The cross-country trek starts on Thursday 19th September and is scheduled to finish in the evening of Sunday 6th October (god willing!).
We are doing this partly because we are nuts and partly to raise money for three charities that are relevant to us. We believe that we will be the oldest 3-person-team to have completed the trek in less than three weeks continuously, with an aggregate age of 203 years.
We are all now in training to make sure we can do the trek, raise the money, and pay tribute to a great bloke.
So please click on one or all of the JustGiving links and give generously to the charity(ies) that mean most to you. Every £1 counts and together we can make a difference!
The British Heart Foundation has resonance with us as we have all lost relatives to heart conditions, and recently Kev had a heart attack when playing soccer for Oxford Vets and John's brother, Allan, was killed in his sleep by a heart attack, the night before he was due to turn out for England seniors (over 70s) at hockey….he was still picked posthumously!
Fix The Fells maintains the pathways on a completely volunteer-run basis and was selected by The Wainwright Society which keeps a log of completers of the walk and promotes all things Wainwright.
Saracens are our rugby club, so Saracens Sport Foundation which does great work in the community, gets its own JustGiving page too.
So please click on one or all of the JustGiving links and give generously to the charity(ies) that mean most to you. Every £1 counts and together we can make a difference!
We all did Economics with an inspirational teacher called Laurence Whitehouse. A thoroughly good bloke who inspired hundreds of Fernebergians and who provided an example of objective, tolerant, fairness, always keeping calm and good humoured, despite what were often fierce political arguments.
And so, 50 years after we left Farnborough Grammar, and in the year he turns 80, he still has a positive influence, and we want to recognise this.
So please click on one or all of the JustGiving links and give generously to the charity(ies) that mean most to you. Every £1 counts and together we can make a difference!
We all did ‘A level’ Economics instructed by Laurence Whitehouse, an inspirational teacher (who was also then the soccer coach). A thoroughly good bloke who inspired hundreds if not thousands of Fernebergians and who conducted himself (and thereby encouraged his students to also behave) in a fair, tolerant, and kind way, where many friendships were made despite fierce academic/political arguments. It was his fantastic teaching which we all three shared and which no doubt put us all on the (near) straight and narrow and inspired us all to pursue degrees in economics. Many heartfelt thanks for that.
He also possessed a very British determined attitude towards bullies to whom he was less tolerant. This approach came to public light when, in 1998, his first wife Margaret was brutally killed by terrorists in Yemen. Laurence never gave up but rather fought on to re-establish his life. Some of the terrorists were eventually brought to justice. This has a topical flavour as our society now tries to work out how to deal with violent and vicious extremists. So, around 50 years after we left Farnborough Grammar, and in the year he turns 80, he still has a positive influence, and we want to recognize this.