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22 July 2008 - Sir Ian Botham
(otherwise known as 'Beefy') has announced that he is dusting down
his trainers and setting off in October 2008 on another legendary
fundraising walk which this time will take him through Harrogate
and Fountains Abbey.
For the first time members of the public will be able to join
Beefy as he walks to help blood cancer charity Leukaemia Research
beat childhood leukaemia.
'Beefy's Great British Walk - Against Childhood Leukaemia'
will take in nine towns across the UK from 10/18
October. This will be Beefy's 12th charity walk
and on day seven (16 October), Beefy will walk in Harrogate where
the public can join him for a four-mile walk in the stunning
grounds of Fountain Abbey.
Sir Ian, President of Leukaemia Research, says: "In 1985, when
I first started walking to raise funds for Leukaemia Research, the
survival rate for children with leukaemia was 20 percent now the
survival rate is 80 percent. Join me on my 2008
walk and together we will help beat this terrible
disease. I am determined to see all children
survive in my lifetime.
"I need people to sign up now and make this my best walk ever.
Places on each stage of the walk will fill up quickly."
The walk is open to everyone but if you are under 16 you will
need to be accompanied by an adult, and each person is being
encouraged to raise a minimum of
£250.
In each town there will be a special off-road section where
you can come and join Sir Ian, and some of his celebrity friends,
all the way to the finish line.
Everybody will be sent sponsorship forms and a fundraising
guide full of great ideas on how to raise as much money as
possible.
Day 7: Harrogate - Fountains Abbey
Date of walk: 16 October 2008
Sir Ian Botham will leave Harrogate's Marks & Spencer at around 9:30 am, people are welcome to go and see him off and cheer him along the town.
Sir Ian Botham will leave Harrogate's Marks & Spencer at around 9:30 am, people are welcome to go and see him off and cheer him along the town.
Then Sir Ian will go Fountains Abbey.
Set in the naturally beautiful Skell Valley Fountains Abbey and
Studley Royal is Yorkshire's first World Heritage
Site. The spectacular estate covers over 800
acres of stunning Yorkshire countryside and includes the
atmospheric ruins of a 12th century Cistercian abbey, one of the
most important remaining Georgian Water Gardens in the UK, one of
the few remaining monastic water mills in the country, as well as a
Georgian manor house and medieval deer park, home to 500 wild
deer.
Join Beefy on this four-mile walk through this beautiful
estate of contrasts and surprises on 16 October.
How to enter the walk: If you
would like to join Sir Ian on one of his walks please contact
Botham Walk Manager Georgina Fitt on 020 7269 9003 or email
gfitt@lrf.org.uk or visit www.bothamwalk.com.
It costs £10 per person to enter to walk with him in
this exclusive one-off opportunity. You will be
able to join Beefy on one of his walks and as places are limited we
are asking everyone to raise a minimum of £250.
Entries will be accepted until 26 September, if the event is
full before that date bookings will close earlier.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Starting in
Taunton (where he started his cricket career and also the location
of the hospital where he met teens with leukaemia), Sir Ian will
take in Windsor, Tunbridge Wells, Bury St Edmunds,
Stratford-Upon-Avon, Llandudno, Harrogate, Milngavie (nr
Glasgow). The 2008 Walk finishes in Durham,
where he ended his professional cricket career.
This is the first time a limited number of people can walk with
Beefy in exchange for sponsorship.
Marks & Spencer are sponsoring the event and will be
providing food and clothing throughout the walk.
Guoman Hotels/Thistle are giving Ian and his team accommodation en
route. VW Touareg is providing branded support
vehicles during the walk.
For further information contact Sally Clark at the Leukaemia
Research press office on 020 7269 9068, press mobile 07795 516921
or email sclark@lrf.org.uk
1. Sir Ian Botham is known to millions around the world as one
of the legends of English cricket. A tireless fundraiser for
Leukaemia Research, Sir Ian's inspirational efforts on the
charity's behalf have received world-wide recognition and he was
knighted in 2007. He also became President of Leukaemia Research
back in 2003, an honour bestowed on him by the charity's Patron,
HRH The Duke of Kent.
2. Fountain Abbey, where the Harrogate walk takes place, is a National Trust property.
3. Leukaemia Research is the only national charity devoted exclusively to improving treatments, finding cures and learning how to prevent leukaemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma and other lymphomas, myeloma and the related blood disorders, diagnosed in 24,500 people in the UK every year.
4. Over the next five years, Leukaemia Research urgently needs to raise over £100 million to commit to new research. From basic laboratory research to clinical trials with patients, Leukaemia Research is committed to saving lives by funding high quality, carefully selected research throughout the UK. Further information, including patient information booklets, is available from www.lrf.org.uk or on 020 7405 0101.
2. Fountain Abbey, where the Harrogate walk takes place, is a National Trust property.
3. Leukaemia Research is the only national charity devoted exclusively to improving treatments, finding cures and learning how to prevent leukaemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma and other lymphomas, myeloma and the related blood disorders, diagnosed in 24,500 people in the UK every year.
4. Over the next five years, Leukaemia Research urgently needs to raise over £100 million to commit to new research. From basic laboratory research to clinical trials with patients, Leukaemia Research is committed to saving lives by funding high quality, carefully selected research throughout the UK. Further information, including patient information booklets, is available from www.lrf.org.uk or on 020 7405 0101.