A volunteer of ours called Rosemary very kindly decided to raise money for our foodbank by walking over 100KM in Spain on the famous Camino trail. She hoped to walk the very last section of the route called the Camino de Santiago – and to do this in 1 week. Above is a picture of Rosemary at the finish, outside the beautiful Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
She did this with her daughter, and had hoped to raise £500, but in the end, she obliterated that target and managed to get a STAGGERING £1928.75. All the proceeds will go to support the work of the South Belfast Foodbank.
Rosemary says:
In July 2022 I fulfilled a longstanding ambition to walk the Camino Frances from Sarria to Santiago de
la Compostela in Galithia in Spain– a distance of 117km.
Having suffered from arthritis and undergoing a hip replacement 6 years ago it was both a personal
challenge and a celebration of the fact that ,due to my surgery, I could manage this. I walked in the
company of my daughter Lucy who provided great encouragement and very useful Spanish when
required as mine is non existent.
I felt that the walk would also provide a good opportunity to raise funds for the South Belfast
Foodbank with whom I have volunteered for the past five years. Whilst we would all like a society
where foodbanks were not required they provide a lifeline to many during these difficult times.
The stretch of the Camino we walked was very beautiful-rolling hills and valleys ,woodlands and
areas of eucalyptus; dairy farms, maize fields and little hamlets. The verges were filled with wild
flowers of scabious, foxglove, campion and mallow.
Whilst this sounds idyllic I did find the long stretches walking on rough terrain up hills in 25C
challenging both mentally and physically. However the encouragement of my daughter ,friends,
family ,my own church and the foodbank volunteers back home spurred me on.
I completed the walk in 6 days and arrived in Santiago with many other people/pilgrims who had
walked the route, It was quite emotional to stand in the square in front of the cathedral.
I very grateful to all those who sponsored me for the walk and thank them for their generosity. So
far £1928.75 has been raised which I hope will help South Belfast Foodbank continue its work and
provide food for many individuals and families over the months to come.
Bruce Gardiner-Crehan, the South Belfast Foodbank Project Manager said, ‘What an achievement for Rosemary! And what an amazing amount of money to raise for our work. Everyone at SBFB, particularly her warehouse co-volunteers, thanks and congratulates Rosemary and her daughter on this INCREDIBLE feat – well done!’