Thames Walk for Water

Meet Martyn Catterall and John Gatt. They walked for fifteen days and 190 miles along the Thames from its source in Cirencester, Gloucester, all the way to the Thames Barrier in Greenwich to raise money for Turn on the Tap, our clean water campaign.Along the way they were joined by loads of Turn on the Tap walkers, popped into Downing Street, and catalogued photos of the weird and wonderful.

On a cold and frosty morning in Gloucester, accompanied by eight other Turn on the Tap walkers, Martyn and John were sent on their way by the leader of the county council, Barry Dare.

Get set, Go. Barry Dare fires the starting (water) pistol.

After four days of walking they had made their way to Oxford and the first signs of tired legs were beginning to show but march on they did. They were still on the lookout for a cooked breakfast but at least there was a variety of interesting wildlife to keep them entertained. As well as the usual they caught sight of cranes and parakeets, swans laying golden eggs, dragons, crocodiles, and a cow on a balcony. If you don’t believe me you’ll have to check out their blog.

A week in and they had found their stride. A cooked breakfast at last and ten keen walkers were at hand to see them over the midway point. Simon Barrington, our chief Executive was joined by Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers including ‘mad man’ Dave Vann who carried 20kg as they trekked 12miles alongside the professionals.

The weather continued to support Martyn and John as they continued on their way but the peace began to fade as they passed Heathrow and entered London. On the penultimate day from Putney to Tower Bridge they took in the sights of London and stopped to pop into Downing Street where they hand delivered a Water Aid petition to the door of No. 10.

Finally and after 190 miles the end was in sight. Aching limbs and sore feet couldn’t damped their spirits as 25 walkers came out to join them on the last day. It seemed for a time that they would never reach the Thames Barrier but after a slightly longer than anticipated final stint they reached the finishing line.

You can still read all about their adventures on the blog site.