THE 24th ANNUAL festive walk around Baddesley Clinton saw 2,500 walkers raise much-needed funds for charity.
Fundraisers weren’t put off by parking issues, the overflow car park had been closed due to muddy conditions, as a record number of walkers turned out and helped raise almost £11,000 for Prostate Cancer UK, Motor Neurone Disease Association, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice as well as local causes.
As has become a tradition about a dozen runners started off for the nine mile route at 8.30am as the organisers had bought the walks start time forward to 9am in the hope of encouraging walkers to burn off the Christmas pud earlier.
This, together with the ideal walking conditions, encouraged more walkers to take on the longer nine and six-mile walks, with the three miles still proving to be the most popular with the late starters.
Organiser, Ute Smith, said: “We have a great relationship with the National Trust at Baddesley Clinton and they helped us throughout the day but they do have strict rules like not allowing us to park cars on the drive or in fields off the drive.
“We searched hard with them for a solution this year but local landowners were unable to help and we were unable to source such a great venue with more parking.
“Next year will be the 25th consecutive year for our walks at Baddesley Clinton and it will be a shame if we cannot accommodate everyone wishing to take part.”
