Our long term friends and supporters, Suri and Harvey, very kindly instigated our very successful first Milton Keynes Hope Walk in memory of their beautiful daughter, Sukhi, who had centronuclear myopathy.

Amongst other things, Suri and Harvey sourced the perfect route, provided us with all the information that we needed, undertook the risk assessment, tested the route in advance, provided a delicious picnic for all and have written the wonderful article about the walk that you can enjoy below.

It has been an utter joy arranging the walk with them and we cannot thank them enough. Likewise, we are grateful to their family, friends and colleagues who joined us at the walk, and to all who have so generously sponsored walkers. Here is Harvey and Suki’s account:-

We hoped, We walked, We helped

‘First of all, a massive thank you to everyone who joined us for the inaugural MK Hope Walk. Not only was it a fantastic success raising nearly £4,000 at the time of writing, which averages to an incredible £100+ per walker but it was also a genuinely enjoyable day. Here’s hoping it’s the first of many – and that we’ve fortuitously started a tradition rather than a one-off!

I’d also like to offer enormous thanks to Mel and Anne. The amount of work they put in behind the scenes is quite staggering. Before this event, I had only a vague appreciation of what was involved. I now suspect they possess powers beyond those of ordinary mortals.

The thinking behind having a MK Hope walk was that is would be a very different environment to a city and also be dog and wheelchair friendly. In addition, our dear departed daughter Sukhi loved to scoot around it in her wheelchair. Sukhi had the remarkable ability to get lost going from one side of a gate to the other. She would often go to the Caldecotte bar that we started from with her friends and although she was confident of navigating there, she used to ask me how to get back! This coined the instruction “keep the lake to your right” and it proved very useful on the day of our walk. This is also why we chose a clockwise circuit.

In the lead-up to the walk, our biggest concern was the weather. With temperatures climbing, Suri and I conducted a highly scientific reconnaissance mission around the lake at midday earlier in the week. During this inspection, we were approached by a committee of several resident greylag geese who appeared keen to discuss whether the event was still going ahead.

After what can only be described as a robust consultation (conducted largely in honks), we reported back to Mel and Anne. The verdict from both us and the geese was that the lakeside breeze made conditions surprisingly pleasant with the distinct lack of heat-radiating from buildings, wide roads, traffic and other ovens.

Taking on board the findings of the meteorological, geophysical and the translated goose feedback, Mel and Anne made a few sensible tweaks to the route and pre-walk guidance. The geese approved. The walk was a GO.

Throughout the planning and on the day itself, it was clear that Mel and Anne took their duty-of-care responsibilities incredibly seriously. Judging by the fact that they counted 37 out and 37 back. We received so many comments from our lovely walkers saying how much they enjoyed the day.

So, to everyone who walked, volunteered, donated, encouraged, honked, or otherwise supported the event: A very big Thank You!

And if the geese have anything to say about it, we’ll be doing it all again next year!’