Abuse Survivors Blog

Bedford Legal Walk 2020

Written by Gabrielle Litson

Picture from the Legal WalkIt would usually be around this time in a ‘normal’ year that Emmott Snell Solicitors would have taken part in the annual Bedford Legal, which is a 10K sponsored walk around Bedford organised by the Eastern Legal Support Trust.

However, as we are all aware, 2020 has not been a ‘normal’ year. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the Bedford Legal Walk could not safely go ahead and so was regrettably cancelled. Nevertheless, like many other things this year, the Legal Walk has found a way to continue and has gone virtual! The Access to Justice Foundation/Eastern Legal Support have launched their campaign to “Go the Extra Mile for Justice”. This fundraising campaign asks volunteers to complete 20,000 miles by the end of 2020. This can be by walking, running, cycling or whatever mode of exercise you prefer.

Therefore, instead of walking the 10k together as a team, each staff member at Emmott Snell Solicitors will be walking 32km collectively within a four-month period. Our aim is to walk 100 miles (or 160km) in total.  

This year our nominated charity a Making Me. Making Me is a small, local charity which focusses on ‘teaching children to thrive’. They do this by delivering workshops in local primary schools that enable children to build emotional vocabulary and develop resilience skills. Making Me aims to drive down the growing number of children and young people struggling with their mental health, in particular as a result of the coronavirus situation.

As always, the other half of the money we manages to raise will go the Eastern Legal Support Trust, which supports legal advice centres in the region so that some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in society can get access to justice. These advice centres are needed more than ever in these challenging times.

On 11 December 2020, as part of our collective miles, the Emmott Snell team, together with the CEO of Making Me, completed a walk which ended at Bedford Park. 

We have now raised around £780 including Gift Aid which is well over our initial target of £500! 

We hope to raise as much as we can for these two worthy charities.

We hope that next year the Bedford Legal Walk will return to normality and allow us to walk together with the other participants. In the meantime, we are enjoying the virtual fundraising! We encourage all local law firms and agencies to get involved both this year and in the coming years.

Emmott Snell Solicitors appreciate any support given during these times. If you would like any further information or would like to donate, please visit our fundraising page Virgin Money Giving | Go the Extra Mile for Justice.

The abuse survivors' guide

Gabrielle Litson

Written by Gabrielle Litson