Red Barrows Olympic walk to London
27th July 2012
Twelve postal workers are walking 45 miles from Southend to
London this weekend pushing their red Royal Mail trolleys in aid of
cancer charity Macmillan. Dubbed the 'Red Barrows', the
non-stop walk is believed to be the first of its kind and is
expected to take around 20 hours in an Olympian effort ending in
Trafalgar Square on Sunday morning.
Among the twelve charity walkers are four Communication Workers
Union reps. The group have a fundraising page and will be doing a
bucket collection along the route which will start with a 'fly
past' along Southend seafront after leaving the delivery office
at 1pm on Saturday afternoon.
Keith Elgar, a Royal Mail postman
from Southend, explains: "We do a fundraising effort every
year and always try to do something a bit different. We don't
think anyone has ever done this before - pushing Royal Mail
trolleys 45 miles into London non-stop - so we're hoping to
capture people's imagination with it.
"We're asking as many people as possible to support and
donate to this hugely important cause. The more that's raised,
the more Macmillan can do to help and assist cancer sufferers and
research new ways of fighting Britain's biggest killer.
"We're aiming to reach Romford by nightfall and then
pass through Ilford and Stratford and into the City and hoping to
reach Trafalgar Square by mid-morning on Sunday.
"We haven't really done any training. We're all
postal workers after all!"
Red Barrows itinerary:
Saturday 28th 1pm: walkers leave
Southend delivery office and walk non-stop through the night via
the A127, Romford, Ilford, Stratford, City of London, London
Bridge.
Sunday 29th July 10am: arrive
Trafalgar Square, London
The walkers will be in Royal Mail uniforms and Macmillan charity t-shirts and will be pushing six red Royal Mail high capacity trolleys.
For more information and to donate visit the Red Barrows Just Giving page.
