Our ‘8,000 steps a day in January’ campaign commemorated the 8,000 lives that are affected by meningitis every year. We challenged our supporters to walk 8,000 steps every day in January to show their support and raise vital funds for Meningitis Now.
Our walker who raised the highest amount of money was ten-year-old Abbie who raised just under £2,500! Abbie’s mum, Gillian talked about the experience:
“The steps would vary each day, some days it was 10,000 steps and other days we were just at 8,000.
“I had seen the campaign on Facebook in November and I suggested it to Abbie – I thought 8,000 would be quite manageable for her. And it was only Abbie taking part because I’m a technical teacher and do about 12,000 steps a day anyway. So I thought Abbie could do it on her own. Sometimes she’d walk with mummy, sometimes daddy and sometimes her big sister.
“Abbie was only thirteen days old when she took ill from bacterial meningitis and we are so lucky to have her.
“We do tend to do a big fundraiser for Meningitis Now every about two to three years. We’ve done the zip slide over the Clyde, the Toddle Waddle and the Kiltwalk, so when we saw the 8,000 steps challenge I thought that was quite manageable.
“We were lucky that the first twenty days in January were all dry and that's quite a lot for the West Coast of Scotland! The last bit was a little harder because we had more rain and more storms. And one day Abbie and her dad went out in a storm! We stay right on the coast, so they were all wrapped up in their waterproofs to go down by the waves.
“Gourock is quite a good place to go walking because you can walk up and down the promenade and it’s also quite hilly. We had about three different routes and it was more choosing which one we fancied.
“Abbie’s favourite place to walk was down the waterfront, where you can walk right over to where the ferry leaves.
”We do these fundraisers to raise awareness of meningitis and all the different symptoms. Everybody focuses on the rash but not everybody gets a rash - Abbie didn’t get a rash, the only unusual thing Abbie did was make a whimpering noise. So it’s important to trust your instinct.”
A massive thank you to all our 8,000 steps walkers for taking part!
To find out more about fundraising for Meningitis Now, check out our events, opportunities and other ways you can get involved on our website. or get in touch with our Fundraising team on fundraising@meningitisnow.org.
