BIG BLIND WALK 2018!
To paraphrase Winston Churchill
“This is the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end.”
The Big Blind Walk 2018 may be over, but the fight to prevent sight loss, treat eye disease, restore sight and rehabilitate patients goes on! Don’t forget, eye research is still sadly one of the best kept secrets in the UK and one of the most underfunded areas of medical research, despite the fact that over 83% of people regularly say that sight is the one sense they most fear losing.
The Big Blind Walk has raised in excess of £45,000 net of costs.
I am eternally indebted to all my sponsors, retail partner, charity partner, media partner, individual donors, guides and walking companions, support team and supporting organisations and the media for their extraordinary contributions in helping me to raise awareness of the many and varied impacts of sight loss, promote eye research and generate much needed funds to develop the science behind sight.
I want to especially thank my guides who gave up their precious time and put their busy lives on hold to expertly navigate the route, steer me around obstacles and over difficult terrain, constantly describe the environment around me and generally keep me going during many long days.
I reserve my biggest thank you to my wife Laura and daughter Imogen who showed such patience, resilience and resolve in the face of many challenges in supporting the Big Blind Walk and keeping me so focused and fit over 8 weeks. After 1,089 miles, 2.5 million steps and 55 days, my faith in humankind is stronger than ever. The generosity, kindness, good will and sheer humanity shown towards me and my amazing guides by passers-by in towns and villages, on top of hills and along roads and country trails, in woods and fields and alongside rivers and canals was truly breathtaking. The most exciting thing of all was that they appreciated the critical importance of nailing the causes of sight loss and not solely managing the symptoms of sight loss and simply providing practical support, however understandably important this is.
Please continue to spread the word about our world class eye researchers who work so tirelessly to improve our understanding of the patterns and processes of eye disease, improve treatments, improve detection and diagnosis, improve the identification and characterisation of genes and the rehabilitation of patients and so much more. They need the funds to carry on with their vital work.
If you would like to retrace any part of the Big Blind Walk in future and raise funds for critical eye research, then please do contact me on julian@visionbridge.org.uk and we can make a plan.
Happy walking!
Charity Partner Retail Partner Media Partner Sponsors