So… it’s over. 25 miles after starting, I finished. I had two brave souls, Danielle and Erica, for company the whole way, and another 16 people who did one way only – a great crowd. All walking for destitute asylum seekers, all hoping to raise money for Refugee Action’s walk with destitute asylum seekers and all hoping to raise awareness of the extraordinary challenges faced by these ordinary people.
It rained as we set out from Refugee Action’s Leicester office at 0635 and we were glad of the waterproofs for the first hour, but the weather turned and we enjoyed a grey, dry day, which was all we wanted really.
The first leg was uneventful, except for the call from BBC East Midlands Today telling me they were sending a camera crew to film us at the Home Office Reporting Centre in Loughborough.
First, though, we had to get there in one piece, which we did, arriving to a warm welcome of refreshments (breakfast baps with bacon or veggie sausage and plentiful tea and coffee) from the lovely people at All Saint’s Church in Loughborough.
Suitably prepared (or restored in the case of those of us who had walked from Leicester) we set off to the Reporting Centre and met up with Carol Hinds, from the BBC and her cameraman. They took some shots of all of us and then everyone else set off for Leicester and I stayed behind for an interview. If you’re interested to hear what I said – first item on the 1725 local news on Saturday evening – go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/8335815.stm
Suffice to say I was very happy with the result and it made the half mile run, to catch up with the others, seem worth it!
Encouraged by our marshals and the Red Cross volunteers (who were, thankfully, redundant as it turned out) our merry band stretched our legs and, by 1445, were all back safely in Leicester, to another warm welcome, this time at the Secular Hall, which was hosting a Make a Difference Day event about asylum, organised by the lovely people from City of Sanctuary who had laid on thick veggie soup, hot pizza slices and lots of other delicious scran.
It was a fantastic day. I’m proud of all the walkers, very pleased with the media coverage and delighted at people’s generosity – I am hoping we’ll top £3000 in sponsorship money, which will go towards Refugee Action’s work with destitute asylum seekers.
We’ve also got a bit more media coverage coming up as a Channel 4 film crew have talked to several of us about work with asylum seekers in Leicester – to be broadcast in late November. Not everyone will understand, but maybe some people will be encouraged to think again.
I suffered a bit on Saturday evening, as every muscle stiffened up every time I stopped moving, but heigh ho, it was worth it!
Posted by Aidan Hallet