Over three hundred supporters joined the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity for their very first Rural Ramble at The Forgotten Gardens of Easton Lodge on Saturday 14th April, raising over £5,000 for the charity!
The weather was on their side with beautiful blue skies and light winds, while visitors had the unique opportunity to enjoy a scenic walk around the surrounding countryside and The Forgotten Gardens of Easton Lodge, just outside the historic town of Great Dunmow.
There were three distance options for participants to choose from; 10 mile walk and garden visit, 4 mile walk and garden visit or a 1 mile walk family trail and garden visit. As part of the event a delicious cream tea was served with each ticket, with scones and strawberry jam.
The gardens which are entirely maintained by volunteers, comprised of a walled kitchen garden dating back to the 18th century, a wild flowers area for the bees, formal gardens, beautiful carpets and expansive colourful displays of flowers in Spring and Summer.
Participants were full of praise for the event;
“I would just like to say thank you for organising a great first Rural Ramble. My husband, two children, two dogs and I completed the 10 mile ramble today. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, the organisation, the route and the tea afterwards were all excellent and for the first time in a long time the weather was on everyone’s side! I hope this will become an annual event, we will definitely be back.”
Nicola Bird, therapist at Helen Rollason Centre Rochelle House in Chelmsford took part in the 10 mile route;
“I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who organised the ramble – you all worked so hard and it was really well organised and enjoyable. My husband Alan and I did the 10 mile route and it was lovely seeing the countryside and everyone else too. The weather and complementary cream tea at the end was a definite bonus. Well done to everyone involved and all the walkers.”
Kate Alden, Fundraising Manager at Helen Rollason Cancer Charity added;
“We’ve been absolutely blown away by the amount of participants that have joined us at our very first Rural Ramble in partnership with The Forgotten Gardens of Easton Lodge. It’s been great to see families, groups of friends, children and dogs enjoying the walk and the stunning gardens.
We couldn’t have organised such an amazing and successful event without the help of our great team of volunteers, staff, sponsors and supporters. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the event and to the volunteers at The Forgotten Gardens of Easton Lodge.
Sponsorship money is still coming in but so far we have raised over £5,000 – a fantastic amount! All the money raised will go towards the valuable work we do in the community supporting people living with cancer.”
