Vintners' Champagne Walk
12 June 2010

OK, so it wasn’t Everest… it wasn’t even a forced march. In fact, to those of us who weren’t there, it must have been a pleasant stroll through the French countryside. Of course, the dangers and distress to the intrepid conquerors (determined to extract revenge for the actions of Guillaume le Bâtard in 1066) were multiplied by the enforced drinking of Champagne at the various Champagne Houses en route !

Despite all odds, our heroes, Chris and Dave Smith, proprietors of the illustrious wine emporium, completed the marathon run (saunter, surely, Ed.) in an epoch record time of… well, it was a full day’s work sampling all that champagne, so… eight gruelling hours. Exhausted yet triumphant, the adventurers were finally forced to retire to a local eatery to devour some of the foreign foods supplied in those parts and, dehydrated, were compelled to imbibe copious quantities of the local brew (more Champagne)

Despite enjoying themselves, Chris and Dave must be congratulated in raising the magnificent sum of £3000 for the Veterans’ Aid charity.

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The "Intrepid Duo"are pictured here along with all the other Epernay Marathon entrants (surely boozy wine-tasting saunter ? -Ed) Can you spot them ?

Look very carefully before moving down the page to see them highlighted - a clue, "green socks" !

 

 

 

The shirt blends in well. don't you think ?

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The 20 km walk is through the vineyards of Épernay calling at Joseph Perrier, Pol Roger, Moët & Chandon, Bollinger and Gosset that constitutes the forthcoming Vintners' Champagne Walk. On Saturday 12 June members of the historic Vintners' Company with friends and relatives will undertake this gruelling hike, hoping to raise £100,000, mostly for Veterans Aid, the charity for homeless ex-servicemen, sometimes described as 'the Accident & Emergency of the military charities'. The remainder will go to the Vintners' Company Charitable Foundation.

The 80 walkers have to have at least £500 worth of sponsorship in place and donations can be made easily via the Just Giving website.

Vintners' spokesman Richard Wilson commented, 'Veterans' Aid is unlike any charity we have known. It provides desperate people with what they need, when they need it, whether that need is for clothing, food, comradeship or accommodation. Its immediacy is what makes it stand out - and after seeing what it has achieved first hand, we chose to make it a beneficiary of our charity fundraising walk this year.'

Last year VA provided 20,000 nights of accommodation and helped more than 900 ex-servicemen and women who had fallen on hard times. It is run by veterans, for veterans, but offers instant access to a range of specialist professional support services provided by barristers, addiction counsellors, military psychiatrists and caseworkers. It also runs a hostel in East London for veterans who need longer-term refuge and care.

Here for a short film explaining the background to the walk. To stop the film. choose another page - when you return to this page, it will have stopped.

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