Edinburgh Art Weekend
A report in from one of the star auction lots from the Jo Walters Trust St Andrew's Ball in November:
Bernard (Flanagan) Williams, the head of Christie's in Scotland, gave David and Mary Parson and their friends, a fantastic week-end in Edinburgh, with a guided tour of Edinburgh's best art collections and two very hospitable nights at their house. Enormous thanks again to Louise and Flanagan for putting up this brilliant prize, and to the Parsons for buying it. Here's a photograph of them all at Jupiter Artland which they were able to visit despite it not officially being open yet, thanks to the owner being a friend of Flanagan's.
Vicky Duke, Mary Parson, David Parson, Louise Williams, Rupert Van der Horst, Flanagan, Verity, Peter Duke, Angela Van der Horst
A Talk at Tullynessle Village Hall
Friday 6th March, at 7pm
Tickets £10 includes a glass of wine
£5 for children under 16
Buy your tickets online now, here,
or telephone Verity Walters on 019755 62246 to pay by cheque.
Polly Murray: Antarctica, Everest and Beyond
At 26, Polly Murray became the first Scottish woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Three years earlier, she was the first person to Telemark ski off the summit of Mount McKinley. She has explored the heart of the Amazon rainforest and skied across remote Arctic islands; as well as taking part in major Antarctic and Arctic sailing expeditions. A truly inspirational speaker, whose stories are matched by her photographic skills.
All proceeds will go the Jo Walters Trust.
The Jo Walters Trust St Andrew's Ball, 2014
What a fantastic night we had at the Lansdowne Club in London, where 125 guests gathered on Saturday the 22nd of November to have a Scottish themed evening, raising money for the Jo Walters Trust. We started off with a champagne reception and then moved through to the ball room for a delicious supper. After supper, Jamie Spencer from Feedback Madagascar delivered a great talk explaining more about how Feedback Madagascar had used the grant the Jo Walters Trust had given them earlier in 2014. It was inspiring to hear how over 650 people had benefitted from the grant, and how the seed nurseries had provided so much value to the 21 communities involved.
Click a picture to start the slide show (44 photographs)
Bristol Burns' Supper
In January 2014 we had our Bristol Burns Night Supper at a new venue: the Marriott Royal on College Green. We piggybacked on a Prince's Trust fundraising dinner, and as such we were part of a much bigger party. As well as having a great meal (as always) and a dance (as always!) we raised some funds for the Jo Walters Trust AND the Prince's Trust, a charity that we are sure Jo would have been very pleased for us to support.
We managed a good Ceilidh, despite about 20% of the JWT guests being in various stages of pregnancy! (NB That's 20% of all the guests, so approximately 40% of the ladies present). Next year there could be a few babies under the table enjoying their first Burns Night... or even a dancing nursery...
The Square, at the top of Park Street, is our 2015 venue on the 26th January, and we're looking forward to yet another get-together, with people hopefully continuing to come from London, Scotland and beyond, for some January cheer.
Working Weekend 2014
The third edition of the wonderful Kincardine Working Weekend was held on 21-23 February 2014 at Kincardine Castle, Aberdeenshire. An enormous thank you is due to Andie and Nicky Bradford for running the event at their fabulous home, Kincardine Castle.
In all, 19 hard working folk took part in a wonderful mix of planting, chainsawing, bonfiring and wall (re)building. We think that the Bradford's got some fine labour in exchange for their generous and unfailing hospitality, but as usual the high standard of food and drink (thank you Bob!) and the relaxed atmosphere (after the labours of the day) contributed to the work rate and the longevity of the party on Saturday evening / Sunday morning.
Athens Marathon 2013
Out of the blue we got a notification from our BT MyDonate account that someone had set up a fundraising page for the Jo Walters Trust to run the Athens marathon. After a bit of digging it turned out to be not one, but two chaps, James Cameron-Cooper and Jimmy Philippson, who were brave enough to attempt to follow in the footsteps of Pheidippides, though hopefully not with the same end result.
The great news is that they not only completed this very tough marathon, they did so with a fast time, and in so doing, raised over £1,000 for the Jo Walters Trust. We are hugely grateful, and are proud to share this report they sent, along with a few pictures. The Jo Walters Trust banner is rapidly becoming a very well travelled item. It should be back from Athens soon though, so if you have a good idea for a fundraising effort, let us know if you would like to add some more miles to the banner's travels!
A full write up is available on our Blog Pages
Atlantic to Mediterranean Cycle
In May 2013 Peter Duke and David Parson cycled all the way from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the Canal de Garonne and the Canal du Midi in Southern France.
They kept a blog as they went and you can read all about it on our Blog pages.
In their own words:
The challenge is out there to others to beat our time from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean or to set a new course with a new route, in aid of the Jo Walters Trust of course. We feel fitter (in spite of wonky necks, dodgy knees and bumps and bruises), we did what we set out to do - we made it, Jo!
Peter and David
A Ceilidh in Craigievar Village Hall
Friday 12th April 2013
We had a wonderful Ceilidh to announce Peter Duke and David Parson's cycling challenge across France later this year. They have told us they will cycle from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean along the Canal de Garonne and the Canal du Midi with barely a stop at a cafe, bar or any other place of refreshment!
well... believe that and you'll believe anything
Clachan Yell provided the music - outstanding as always
Peter and David provided the reason - their cycle challenge
Our thanks are due to the many others who cooked, baked, drew, decorated, organised, donated prizes and cleared up this wonderful evening.
But most of all our thanks are due to all who attended for generating a wonderful atmosphere, danced like no-one was watching and so eagerly gave up their hard earned cash for the Trust.
You can still sponsor Peter and David for their cycle ride by visiting their BTMyDonate Pages below.
Donations via https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/peterduke
Or https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/davidparson
A few pictures and a video of the evening below:
Burns Supper and Ceilidh
The Burns Supper 2013 in Bristol was a roaring success and was attended by c.80 people. Everyone enjoyed champagne, a slap up Scottish supper, dancing and, perhaps a dram or two.
Here are a few selected photographs of the revelry:
Big Ben + 24hrs
Fiona Baird, Neil Lumsden and Alastair Baird completed a 24 hour walk at 12 noon on 13th May 2012. They had set off from Big Ben 24hours earlier and walked in a westerly direction ending up on the banks of the River Thames between Marlow and Henley. Their heroic effort raised a staggering amount of money for the Trust and we are extremely grateful to them and their very sore feet!
The Lucky winner of the magnum of champagne has yet to be announced but we will post details here as soon as we know.
