Bridge the Gap walk smashes target
On Sunday 21st October, over 70 supporters joined Meningitis UK's Chief Executive, Steve Dayman on the last leg of the charity's 16-day marathon walk from The Tyne Bridge in Gateshead to The Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.
The walk beat the £50,000 target set and raised £60,000, which will fund vital research to find a meningitis vaccine. Steve Dayman walked the whole gruelling 328-miles with over 200 supporters who joined the walk at various stages along the route, many of whom had experienced the devastation of meningitis.
The proceeds of the ‘Bridge the Gap' Walk will go towards supporting Meningitis UK's ‘Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign', which was launched earlier this year. The campaign aims to raise £7 million over the next seven years to help fund research to develop a vaccine against meningococcal Group B. This is the most common form of meningitis in the UK, for which there is still no vaccine and accounts for almost 90% of all cases. To highlight the importance of finding this vaccine, the route of the walk passed through towns whose capital letters spell out ‘GROUP B': Gateshead, Ripon, Oldham, Uttoxeter, Pelsall and Bristol.
Steve said "It is fantastic news that we have beaten our target of £50,000 as it goes without saying that the more we raise, the sooner a vaccine can be developed. We are really grateful to everyone who took part."
To make a donation to support the walk and Meningitis UK's ‘Search 4 a Vaccine' or to find out more about various other ways you can help, please phone 0117 373 73 73 or visit www.meningitisUK.org
MeningitisUK · Registered Charity No.1076774
