By William Coleman
I once travelled 5,543 miles on the Bailey #Bristanbul tour, but we used cars and motorhomes to get us around. One Caravan and Motorhome Club member is covering the same amount of miles on foot to help raise money for two different charities.
Covering over 5000 miles is no small task, it is literally from the Bristol to Turkey and back, so I could not imagine undertaking that adventure on my own two feet. One person who is certainly not afraid of the challenge is Caravan and Motorhome Club member Commander Jane Allen.
Jane will be doing a solo walk and covering 5,500 miles while walking around the coast of mainland Britain, raising money for two naval charities. Accompanied by her former Royal Marine husband Frank in their self-financed support motorhome, known as the Victory Van, Jane is staying at a number of Club sites on the way.
Jane, who served for 37 years in the Royal Naval Reserve, is raising funds for two causes close to her heart – the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and the Women’s Royal Naval Service Benevolent Trust.
“Between us, Frank and I have almost 70 years’ service in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, from Aden to Afghanistan,” said Jane. “The Victory Walk seemed a good way of marking the end of my career, by taking on a year’s challenge and ‘giving back'”.
Jane’s trek started from Portsmouth, outside HMS Victory on 21 October 17, Trafalgar Day. Walking anti-clockwise from Portsmouth, Jane arrived in Scotland at the end of April 2018 and returned to England six months later.
In Scotland alone she walked 2,183 miles, wore out four pairs of boots and the Victory Van covered almost 4,000 miles in support. She crossed back into England on Sat 10 November and then headed down the north west coast to enter Wales before Christmas 2018.
Disaster struck in February when she suffered a fracture and severe dislocation of her right shoulder while on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. After 10 weeks off the Walk, she restarted again at the end of April.
Initially doing short distances and maintaining a strict physio routine, Jane clocked 4,600 miles just before crossing over the River Severn back into England. She has now turned towards Land’s End and will walk the South West Coast Path as she heads back towards HMS Victory in Portsmouth – she hopes to arrive this summer.
Speaking about the challenge that Jane has undertaken, Nick Lomas, Director General of the Caravan and Motorhome Club said: “We are always delighted to see our members getting out in the great outdoors and raising money for special causes by going the extra mile, let alone 5,500 miles!
We’re pleased that Jane and Frank are able to enjoy some well-earned rest at some of our sites along the way and it just shows what amazing adventures you can have with a motorhome.”
To find out more about Jane’s Victory walk, visit www.victorywalk.uk
To make a donation, visit Virginmoneygiving.com/victorywalk17-18
