Maxse Walk 2016 raises £4751 for Children on the Edge

Since 2013, Tony Maxse has organised a series of beautiful walking events, in loving memory of Georgina Maxse. This year’s event had 60 participants, walking over five days and raising over £4,700 for our work with forgotten children across the world and another £4,748 for the Institute of Cancer Research.

Chris Taylor, an ambassador for Children on the Edge describes this year’s journey:

“On a very rainy and windy Wednesday morning 35 walkers met in a carpark near East Dean to walk 10.5 miles around Beachy Head. This was the start of 5 circular walks starting in East Sussex and ending in Bepton in West Sussex. This was a continuation of an annual fund raising walk set up by Tony Maxse over 20 years ago. The walk was originally 100 miles long but now to take account of age and ease of organisation they have become circular walks.

This hardy bunch set off and were blessed with gradual lifting of the mist and easing of the wind. We even managed to have lunch on the cliff tops below Beachy Head in the sunshine. The afternoon proved to be particularly tough, as we headed straight back into the wind. Despite this most people made it back to the carpark in one piece.

The second day we met at The Devil’s Dyke, on top of the Downs above Hove. This proved to be a tough walk with a punishing climb back up to the finish. However, we were rewarded with far reaching views during the walk, seeing 5 counties from the top of Wolstonbury Hill and enjoyed an excellent pub lunch.

On Friday we had a delightful walk around Petworth, meeting at Bignor Farm, where we were given coffee by Edward and Linda Way. Ben Wilkes from Children on the Edge joined us on the walk and impressed everyone by cycling to the beginning of the walk from Chichester and home again at the end of the walk. We meandered through beautiful countryside to The Horse Guards at Tillington for lunch. They looked after us superbly and won the best lunch of the walk award comfortably. After lunch we went through the Upperton and Nyetimber vineyards and on through Petworth Park ending back at Bignor Farm for a wonderful tea provided by Linda Way. Ben gave a short talk about Children on the Edge that put our efforts into perspective, showing that our contribution really does make a difference.

Saturday saw us on top of The Downs meeting below the Trundle by Goodwood race course. The weather was favourable once more and after climbing in the morning we were rewarded with magnificent views north and a picnic lunch  in the sun. The afternoon was beautiful in the folds of the Downs with a final burst down the home straight at Goodwood to finish. Euan Clarke, who head’s up the Ambassador team for Children on the Edge, joined us for the day. He spoke personally to many of the walkers, informing them about the work that Children on the Edge do.

The final day started in Bepton and took us up the Downs once more, past Barn owls and Sparrow hawks. Lunch was taken at The Royal Oak in Hooksway and we were able to eat outside. The walk home was blessed with stunning views over Treyford and we returned to Sally and Brian Marien’s  house for a celebratory tea with mountains of delicious food and copious cups of tea”.

Our Head of UK Ben Wilkes said “It was great to talk to many of the walkers and experience the wonderful community that the Maxse walk has created. We are bowled over by the incredible amount of money they have raised for Children on the Edge by participating in the walk. They are all very kind hearted individuals and together make a huge difference to the lives of the children who through no fault of their own find themselves ‘on the edge’.

​To date the Maxse Walks have raised £506,412 for various charitable projects. Organiser Sally Marion says “Lets go for the million!”. Watch this space for a change to join the Maxse group next year. 

If you'd like to fundraise for Children on the Edge, have a look at some ideas on our website, and contact Eloise Armstrong.