It was third time lucky on Thursday 27 March as we swapped our home on the banks of the River Thames for the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside as over 400 pupils and staff embarked on our biennial Sponsored Walk!
The aim of the walk was to raise funds for the charity Gap-Africa and ahead of the walk, we received letters from pupils we have been sponsoring who have recently completed their education. It was wonderful to find out about how they have been getting on and for our pupils to read first-hand how they are helping.
At approximately 9.00am, coaches carrying our Sixth Form pupils departed Shiplake for the start of their walk at Moulsford. From then on, the rest of the College followed suit throughout the morning, with each year group heading for different starting points along the Thames. Year 11 began their walk at Goring Bridge, while Years 9 and 10 commenced their journey from Pangbourne. Our Lower School pupils began their journey 0.4 miles further down the river.
The distances on the day depended on the year group, with our Sixth Form pupils walking approximately 19.1 miles, Year 11 walking 16.4 miles, Years 9 and 10 walking 12.7 miles, and Lower School walking 12.3 miles. The route followed the River Thames from Moulsford, passing through Goring, Pangbourne, Reading and Sonning, before finishing at Shiplake via our old Riverside Pitches where even now in spring, some large puddles remain from the winter floodings.
A special mention must go to those who ran the course in its entirety. In what was an incredible effort, Year 13's Alfie Malcolm and Josh Barnes completed the course in 2 hours 27 minutes – the former shaving 10 minutes off his previous time from 2022! They were followed closely by Lewis Otter (Year12), Liam Cawdell (Year 13), Tom Lane (Year 12), and Zac Powell (Year 12). An additional well done must also be said to the first pupil(s) back in each year group – Year 11’s Luke Hilton, Year 10’s Z Miles and Franco Bigmore-Wallace, Year 9’s Daniel Mellor and Ollie Houldsworth, Year 8’s M Rousseau-Cox, Polina Brown, and Masha Budnyk, and Year 7’s D Rosser and Lucy Amos-Yeo. In the sixth form, the first girls back were Ava Lowe, Phoebe Burt, Bethan Thompson, Flo Rait, and Elisabeth Erb.
Well done to everyone who completed the walk. Additionally, a big thank you must go to Mr Bradley who organised the event, and to all of those who helped along the way with marshalling and catering.
At the time of writing (Monday 31 March), pupils, parents, families and friends of Shiplake College have helped to raise £16,603! This is a substantial effort in support of our almost 30-year link with Gap Africa and our House Sponsorship of the eight pupils in schools in the Kikunduku area of Kenya.
We would like to congratulate those who took part in the walk as well as thank everyone who has donated to raise so much money. The impact that your donations will make will be substantial and if you would like to support this fantastic cause, you can still donate today!
Flickr album: Sponsored Walk March 2025 |
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