A capital Walk and Talk

Journey's end: the walkers arrive at Westminster.

As BSA's new trustee Claire Tupling said "it's not 11 years is it?" Yes the first London Walk and Talk sponsored walk in aid of BSA was in 1999, organised by myself and some others. Back then it was one of a series of Walk and Talks in different countries around the world for International Stammering Awareness Day (ISAD) - the others being in South Africa, South Korea, and Belgium.

This year our fundraiser Julia Ammon and Daniel from Talkcoach decided to resurrect the London walk and I was very happy to take part. We wanted to fundraise for BSA and also create awareness about stammering. Unfortunately being October it wasn't warm enough to wear our Walk and Talk t-shirts without half covering them by coats, but some displayed the t-shirts by draping them over shoulders. We also wore sea green ribbons to mark ISAD (22nd October, the previous day).

We started from Tower Hill station in watery sunshine (in 1999 it rained for virtually the whole walk) and had a great time walking and talking. We made our way through the city, learning a lot from our very knowledgeable walk leader, Anne Marie. What is great about an event like this is that we shared experiences of where we are regarding our stammers. Lunch was in a pub near St Pauls which provided more opportunities to chat.

The walk followed pretty much the same route as 11 years ago, based on historical landmarks associated with famous people who stammer - for example Notker Balbulus the monk (Blackfriars) and Winston Churchill (Westminster). We finished about 5.30pm by the Houses of Parliament. We were tired and legs ached, but it is great to have done the walk, and at the time of writing we have raised over £1500.

I hope we can do something like this next year and perhaps hold walks in other UK cities.

Christine Simpson

From the Winter 2010 issue of Speaking Out, back cover