26 miles for Naomi House

Naomi House and Jacksplace

Naomi House and Jacksplace is a Hampshire based charity, providing expert hospice care to life limited and life threatened children and young adults. They also provide incredible and invaluable support for their families.

Jesse has had the privilege of being one of their volunteers for a wide variety of events over the years, from big fundraising events to posh soiree’s, to fun activities for children and families.

Naomi House Rainbow Run

Naomi House Santa Fun Run

Tim Henman at the Summer Soiree in the Naomi House Hampshire headquarters

Andy Burrows and Tom Odell at a private gig in Winchester

_{Photos courtesy of JLawrence Photography}

The Clarendon Way Walk

The walk is a 26mile hike starting from Winchester Cathedral, making it’s way through Hampshire and Wiltshire, through some beautiful villages such as the half way point of Broughton. From there, it is a gruelling trek through some extremely hilly countryside, past the Clarendon Palace ruins. Finally, the trail heads into Salisbury, finishing at Salisbury Cathedral.

The event is a massively organised day, as the biggest fundraiser of the year for the charity. With options to do the full 26 miles, half distance starting at Broughton and a 5 mile short walk, the event is normally held in June. Because of everything that has happened, it was postponed, and the option was given for the distance to be walked elsewhere.

The DC Team

We had a relatively large team ready for the June event, however with the reschedule a few of our team were unable to make it. However, the final three were joined by director Jeremy for a last-minute entry! With less than a month to prepare, the guys went of a few training walks around Hampshire:

Jesse doing a 14 mile training walk in the New Forest

Training Walkin the South Downs

On the day, Jesse and Dave set off at 7am from Winchester Cathedral, feeling a little under prepared. Jesse had promised Naomi House to take some photos on the way round, so came prepared with the smallest camera he had, and spent the day wishing he wasn’t a photographer! Through the early morning mist, the two started off eager but nervous!

_{Photo courtesy of Charity Images}

Winchester in the early hours

At the half-way point, they stopped for lunch at the Broughton pitstop and were joined by Tombo and Jeremy for the rest of the journey.

Team Selfie at Broughton - the whole gang together!

It’s fair to say that that they joined for the more difficult half, as there was an awful lot of uphill struggles!

None of the photos showed off how hilly it was - but then I was concentrating on breathing at those points!

But the Wiltshire countryside was stunning.

The Wiltshire countryside

We expect that a wasp flew into the cab of the tractor for one of the rows…..

What happened here?!

Here is what the team had to say:

“What a fantastic event for an incredible charity. Thank you so much to the other guys for joining me – I wouldn’t have made it on my own! It was lovely to see some colleagues outside of a teams call for the first time in 6 months, and thought it was weird not being able to give them a hug, I’m sure they were glad not to have to touch me on such a hot sweaty day!!! Very proud to have finished, and well done to everyone involved.” - Jesse

"As I’m not particularly fit (slight understatement there…) it was good to have a goal and something to train for. This was my first sponsored thing I’ve done since school, and it felt great to be raising money for such a good cause. I’m proud I was able to complete the half walk this time, but now I want to push myself further to be able to do the full 26 mile walk next year. I might need a better pair of shoes though!" - Tombo

You can donate!

The team have now raised £636.00, which is over their £500.00 target, but are still trying to raise more for this amazing and important charity. You can donate too, just go to the following link and choose one of the team to donate to. 

Donate Now

Jesse Lawrence

Jesse is our marketing manager, keeping an eye on the latest news in the market as well as having worked on the GDPR legislation.