The group bumbled along for the rest of the year and the days that
we walked was changed because it didn't suit some people but that then didn't
suit others so I settled on the Saturdays and stuck to that.
In January 2016 I suggested a hike to La Bola, which is the weather radar ball at the summit of the Sierra de Mijas. As this was something more challenging than we had tackled before I decided (albeit at the last minute) to make it a sponsored hike, and raise money to buy a tanker of water for S.O.S.Animals whose well had run dry and were having to buy in tanker loads of water at around €75 a time. I would have been happy to have raised the €75 that a tanker load cost but as it happened we raised €260. In addition to the fund raising we all (6 of us) had a great adventure hiking to the top of the mountain, the combined ages of those who did this was nearly 400 years.
With this quest came a lot of publicity and as a result lots of
inquiries to join the group and within a couple of weeks we went from about 6
to 36 on the walks. This momentum continued and in the spring I saw an
opportunity to perhaps raise more money for the animal charity and organised a
20km sponsored hike. The route was decided and started from the picnic area
outside of the Sports Stadium in the Los Llanos woods near to Coin from where,
on Saturday 31st April 2016 and in ideal weather, some 16 of us set
off, and after about 6 hours we returned to be greeted by our families and
supporters enjoying a picnic. We raised a spectacular total of €2400 which was
donated to S.O.S.Animals and was very gratefully received.
The group continued to walk every Saturday and in fact a few of us
were also walking on the Thursdays, but
this was a more informal gathering and we were exploring new routes for the
main group and also taking on more challenging routes.
Whilst the Saturday group activities were stopped during the heat
of the summer the Thursday’s continued.
On our return to the scheduled walks in September I was asked to
organize the walking routes for the S.O.S. Animals Sponsored Walk. The picnic
area in Los Llanos woods seemed a good starting point and I organized 5km and a
10km route so that, hopefully, this would attract more walkers. The advantage
of this area to walk in is that for most of the routes you were in the shade
and the picnic area made a great venue to raise more money.
Whilst on one of the walks that month it was suggested to me that
if I charged a small fee to people to come on the walks than that could raise
money for charity. After a short consideration I decided to introduce the €2
donation to everyone who came on the walks and this was accepted without
question by all but 2 couples and since then we have been able to donate
between €200 and €300 every month to
S.O.S.Animals and another charity.
In early October 2016 I led the Thursday group, on a new route to
us, along marked routes on the South face of the Sierra de Mijas, with some
wonderful walking with some spectacular views across the Mediterranean to North
Africa and south to Gibraltar. On the Saturday I led the group to the fire
lookout on Sierra de la Roble and again some quiet steep inclines, but with
views as far as Malaga Port. The following Monday I had promised one of our
walkers, Meg, that I would check out a route that she had suggested in the
mountains around Monda. At the end of that walk as I got to the end of the
drive to Megs chalet, I collapsed and unfortunately this wasn’t the first time,
it had happened a couple of times in the previous couple of years, after
exercise. It was thought to be dehydration, and was taken home only to be
rushed to the Hospital in Malaga where I was rushed into Critical Care.
Eventually I was stabilised and spent the next 2 weeks in the Cardiac ward
having lots of tests. It was discovered that I had some fairly serious Heart
problems (some of which I was born with and had no idea) with the ultimate
outcome that I was fitted with an ICD (Implanted Cardioversion Defibrilator)
and being told no more hill walking and no more heavy exercise.
The S.O.S. Animals Sponsored walks were planned for the first
Saturday that I was in hospital but with some fantastic teamwork from a few
members of the group in particular Paula and John the walks went ahead. With
the money that was raised from the sponsorship, the picnic and John Statons
cake raffle the day ended with a fantastic €1400 raised for the charity.
I had also organized for a group of 20 of us to walk the Caminito
del Rey again along with lunch, but I was unable to do this but once again in
stepped my trusted lieutenants and the walk and lunch went ahead.
Unfortunately my hospitalization and subsequent convalescence
brought the walking groups to a shuddering halt, and with the news that I would
no longer be able to lead or indeed partake in a lot of the walks something had
to be done.
I gathered together a small group of those who had become most
involved and indeed formed the core of the Thursday group, namely the three
Johns and Paula for a strategy meeting, and all were agreed that the groups
should carry on and that they would lead and help wherever possible and I would
do the planning and administration until I was able to walk more.
With the fantastic efforts of that small group the walks started
again, but my predicament had set me thinking, that there must be a lot of
others in a similar position that would like to walk, but nothing too heavy. It
was with this in mind that I set up the ‘Walking for Wellness’ group, with
routes that were shorter, flatter and easier than the Saturday routes. From the
start this proved popular and attracted a number of like minded people along
with their dogs, there are now times when we have almost as many dogs as
walkers but the remarkable thing is that most of our canine members seem to get
on. It is quite a joy to see them exploring and checking out what each other
has found.
The €2 donation for the walks was working well and we are
contributing between €200 an €300 per month to S.O.S.Animals and another
charity of a members choice.
It was in the first half of 2017 the we decided that it would be a
good idea to have some First Aiders on the walks and as one of the group was an
ex First Aid Trainer 6 of us was duly taught CPR, wound Dressing and various
other aspects of First Aid, enough for us to cope with a variety of minor
injuries that hopefully would never occour.
The Sponsored Hike would hopefully now become an annual event and
the date for the 2017 was set and this time it would be bigger and better
organized than the first one but one thing that even I couldn’t control was the
weather, and in contrast to the year before, it rained, and had we stuck to the
date it would have been a washout so we took the decision to postpone for a
week. This proved to be the right one and the weather cleared and was kind to
us on the day.
The route would be virtually the same as the previous year with
the exception of climb which would be along the marked route rather than up the
very steep concrete track as before, this added a couple of kilometers so it
was renamed a Half Marathon Hike. The donation format would be changed also as
we were donating to S.O.S. every month we adopted three more charities to share
the total raised. Although I was unable to tackle this type of walk any more I
had good deputies to lead.
The 17 intrepid hikers had a send off from some S.O.S. rescue
dogs, and that was the last we would see of the walkers for another 6 hours. In
the meantime non-hiking partners were busy making food for the picnic at the
completion of the hike.
With the fantastic support, and donated raffle prizes, food sales,
drink sales, Johns cake raffle and sponsorship the day was a great success and
raised an amazing €3700 which was divided equally between the 4 charities S.O.S
Animals, A.R.C.H Horse Rescue, A.I.D Animals in Distress and CHAIN.
The groups continued to flourish but the summer was fast
approaching and whilst I try to plan routes that are in the shade, it can
become very repetitive and still gets too hot to walk.
It was with this in mind that John Campbell, who is an early bird,
suggested an early morning group through the summer months, and this was duly
set p with the start set at 07:00 and the walks would be finished by about
10:00 when it was starting to get unbearable.
The group took with then some Cava, Cake and Bacon Butties, the
latter had become the Madrugistas staple fare, and had a toast to the rising
sun.
The season started again in September with the now well
established three distinct groups, I decided to limit the charity donations to
a regular three in addition to S.O.S.Animals and we are now supporting ARCH, AID
and Cudeca.
I am now able to tackle a lot more routes than a year ago but
those that I won’t risk doing are led usually by John Milborrow and assisted by
the other two Johns.
Another one of our walkers donated to us a portable defibrillator
which was surplus to requirements from an Oil Rig, this gift was duly accepted
and we are now perhaps the only group in the area that has First Aiders and a
Defib, on which a number of us have been instructed.
In October 2017, we again organised the S.O.S. Sponsored walk
using the same format, venue and routes as the previous year only this time I
was able to lead the 5km walkers and this time there was an even better turnout
and the whole day was a lot more efficient having learnt from the previous
year. The day ended up with a contribution to the S.O.S coffers of over €2000.
The format of the three groups continues and although the people
change we still retain a good turnout for all of the walks. Some of the earlier
members are no longer able to walk with us, but new walkers are constantly
joining us, and we have a diverse mix of nationalities which make for very interesting
conversations.
In addition to the scheduled walks, hikes and rambles we have made
several trips to walk the Caminito del Rey and have many ad hoc social events,
and through our various efforts we have donated almost €11,000 to a number of
charities.
The summer of 2019 saw a split in the group with most of those mentioned above deciding that they were no longer interested in what my group had to offer and formed there own group, and having nothing to do with this group any longer.
The summer of 2019 saw a split in the group with most of those mentioned above deciding that they were no longer interested in what my group had to offer and formed there own group, and having nothing to do with this group any longer.
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