VIN Club’s 2022 15k Charity walk in support of Precious Sight Foundation
VIN Club turns to friends and family each year to raise money and awareness of a worthy cause. This year, we adopted Precious Sight Foundation as our supported charity with activities including a 15km charity walk in central London lined up to raise money and most importantly, raise awareness of the work they do in Africa.
The 15km charity walk was underpinned by individual fund-raising activities, with members embarking on various activities including private sponsored walks to raise money for the charity, so the day was the climax which saw members and friends coming together for the finale.
This year’s sponsored walk was scheduled for the 3rd of September, with the walk planned through the heart of London.
On the morning of the “D-Day”, VIN Club members, their wives, friends and the team from Precious Sight Foundation started to arrive at Leicester Square station, the designated starting point. Although the start time for the walk was set for 10.15 am, we had our first arrival just before 9.00 am, with full attendance by 10.00 am.
At the start, we had 30 participants all dressed for the occasion in Precious sight Foundation colourful branded T-shirts and backpacks filled with water, protein bars and energy drinks in preparation for the task ahead. The choice of multi-coloured T-shirts and balloons made us stand out with passers-by wanting to find out more about the charity.
Prior to starting the walk, VIN Club President, Mr Tunde Adebayo welcomed the participants of this year’s event; he thanked them for “taking time from your busy schedules” to join the club in our quest to make a difference to the big society, and advised us to have fun at the same time.
Biyi Adewumi, the CEO of Precious Sight Foundation in her opening remark, thanked the club for partnering with them to alleviate sight loss in Africa. She highlighted the challenges faced by the charity and how the money raised from this event would support them going forward.
She expressed her excitement about the money raised so far via the JustGiving platform and stated that she was optimistic that this will no doubt make a huge difference in their fight in tacking sight loss in Africa.
At approximately 10.30 am, the President declared the walk open which was followed by the first group photograph to commemorate the start of the event.
The walk started from London Leicester Square taking us towards Tottenham Court Road station and onto the famous Oxford Street. It was obvious that participants were having an exciting time, forming groups of 4s and 5s intermittently to mingle as we moved along, fostering camaraderie.
As we approached Marble Arch, we took a left turn towards Hyde Park. The scenery around the park was beautiful. We couldn’t resist the temptation of another group photograph, set on the backdrop of the beautifully-cut grass.
Moving on, we proceeded from Hyde Park to London Victoria where we stopped briefly to recharge our batteries for the final 10km. As we approached Vauxhall Bridge, it became apparent that this year’s weather was going to be very kind to us, considering the earlier forecast of rainfall throughout the day. The weather was perfect, so was the scenery. It turned out to be a nice sunny afternoon with iconic London landmarks creating backdrops for our numerous group photographs.
Our walk would be incomplete without our trademark group photograph in front of the Nigeria High Commission, Northumberland Avenue, Westminster. Here in the background, the Nigeria High commission building stood with the Nigeria flag flapping in response to the wind. This was quite symbolic as Precious Sight Foundation Outreach although a UK based charity, they do great work in Africa, particularly Nigeria, effectively highlighting the “Giving Back” nature of this project.
As we approached our end point Trafalgar Square, we felt a sense of pride in undertaking such a task raising money and awareness for a worthy cause. The thought of our accomplishment gave us a fresh impetus and powered our tired legs across the finishing line. From start to finish, the walk took just over 4 hours.
In the President’s closing remarks, he congratulated the 34 participants for completing the walk and treated us to refreshments.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable day for a very worthy cause. At the time of writing, we had raised a whopping £ 13,297 for the charity, and still counting.
On behalf of VIN Club, we say a very big Thank you and Well Done to all those who supported and participated in this year’s (2022) 15k walk, making it a success!! We say bring on the 2023 walk!
VIN Club Charity Committee