Those taking part in the Heritage Beach Walk at Les Amarreurs Grande Harve, Vale, yesterday to raise money for the Mines Awareness Trust. Left to right: Lila the dog, Sue, Ben and Harry, 9, and George Remfrey, 8, Mark and Natascha Helyar, 11, and Jane Shambrook. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0571097)
ABOUT 100 people raised more than £3,000 for the Mines Awareness Trust yesterday by taking part in the Heritage Beach Walk.
All the money will go towards the trusts’ Dirk Ridge Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, which trains mine-detection dogs. And several walkers brought along their enthusiastic canines to help complete the 12.5-mile trek from Pembroke to Portelet Bay.
Most of the dogs seemed eager to carry on after reaching the finish line – their owners, however, did not seem so keen. ‘To have raised that much money with the number of people who took part is absolutely brilliant,’ said Sam Evans, head of fund-raising for MAT.
Lt-Governor Sir Fabian Malbon, patron of the charity, attended the start of the walk to wish those who had braved the early morning thunder and lightning the best of luck.
‘It was brilliant that he made an appearance,’ Miss Evans said.
‘It meant a lot to us.
‘It was the same with John Gollop, who came to the start as well.
‘He said he was sorry he couldn’t take part, but wanted to come and say hello at the start.
‘It was a really nice gesture.’
The route went along the coastal paths and Miss Evans said she had a lot of admiration for the walkers who braved the elements to start at 8.30am.
‘The money we have raised from this one event will fund a couple of dogs, which is great.
‘We will be able to buy and train them.’
The trust uses people to clear landmines in war-torn countries and then send the dogs in to check to make sure the area is clear.
And so far no person or dog has been injured working for the trust.
‘That is something that MAT is very proud of because obviously it’s a dangerous job,’ Miss Evans said.
‘The dogs are trained so vigilantly because we have to be meticulous about it to make sure there are no injuries.’
She said that a wide variety of people had supported yesterday’s walk.
‘I have to thank the marshals, who are all volunteers and workers from the Heritage Group, who sponsored the walk,’ she said.
‘We had lots of different types of people doing the walk as well. Young, old, families and dogs.
‘I think people really like the fact that their island has a charity like MAT that helps people internationally.’
One of the walkers, Vanessa Gomez, said the trust was an easy charity to support because of the great work it does abroad. ‘But I think any charity is worth supporting, especially one that helps and protects people,’ she said.
‘The walk was also really nice and it’s so good to get out and about to get a good workout.’
Article posted on 28th April, 2008 - 11.30am
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