Walk shares £7,000 among charities

Five local charities have a spring in their step thanks to money raised through a sponsored walk.

The Charity Walk for Peace, organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elder Association and East Hampshire District Council, raised more than £7,000 for local causes.

The groups gathered before Christmas to receive the money and celebrate the success of last September’s event.

Home-Start Butser (£2,000), Home-Start WeyWater (£2,000), the Southern Domestic Abuse Service (£2,000), the Rosemary Foundation (£500) and Artscape (£500) all benefited from the walk.

It followed a five-mile course from Bentley Station to Alice Holt Forest and was the first to be held in the district.

At the presentation, attended by East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds, it was announced that plans had begun for a follow-up event in 2018.

Customer relations portfolio holder Cllr Julie Butler said: “The Charity Walk for Peace was a fantastic event which brought together the community and gave people the chance to do something really positive.

“I would like to thank the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elder Association for bringing it to East Hampshire and for everyone that came along on the day to raise money and make it such a fabulous event.

“I would like to thank all the charities here, they have been with us through the whole process. I would also like to thank East Hampshire District Council for all its support – hopefully we can work together again next year on another Walk for Peace.”

Rizwan Khan, regional head of Charity Walk for Peace, was on hand to present cheques to the charities in a ceremony held at the council offices in Penns Place, Petersfield.

He said: “The Ahmadiyya Muslim Elder Association has had a fantastic year, raising over £685,000 for charities across the country, and we really couldn’t have done it without all of your support.

Read orininal post in Alton Post Gazette. Also published in Farnham Herald.