The Thirteenth walk organised by Itex in association with the Rotary Clubs of Guernsey was a resounding success this weekend.

The Walk and Mini-Walk took place on Saturday 5th June starting at the White Hart pub in St. Peter Port and at Bordeaux for the Mini-Walk.

There were 487 starters for the 40mile walk around Guernsey’s coastline, with many others starting at different checkpoints. A further 30 people completed the Mini-Walk.

• Paul Smith was first past the line at 12.05 pm - 7 hours and 30 minutes in, despite Walk organizers stressing that it was not a race.
• The 5-mile mini-walk saw old and young take part, with a 93 year old taking part once again this year.
• The youngest was Fraser who at 8 years old who was “looking forward to an ice-cream at Pleinmont”. Fraser was accompanied by his brother Oliver (age 10,) and father.
• At least 5 dog breeds were seen: a golden Labrador puppy, a Jack Russell racing his companion black Labrador companion at Corbiere steps, a Huskie- type breed pulling his owner along.

Many of the walk refreshment checkpoints were sponsored including HSBC, Investec, Nordben, Deloitte’s, Norman Piette, Close Bank, Saffrey Champness and Deutsche Bank

Muscular discomfort from walking was alleviated thanks to the help of the Chiropractic and Massage Clinic (CMC) who operated massage stations all along the west coast. This year Walkers were sporting bright red T-shirts provided by Airtel-Vodafone.

Richard Parker, Itex Managing Director said: “This year’s Itex-Rotary walk has been a fantastic event. We wholeheartedly thank our volunteers who put such effort into making the day run smoothly, our very generous sponsors who provide funding and their time, and all of the walkers for their sponsorship raising activity. Taking part and completing the Itex-Rotary Walk is a great achievement.

Previous walks raised over £350,000 in Guernsey with £53,000 distributed in 2009 to more local charities than in any previous year. Jannine Birtwistle, secretary for Rotary Guernsey said that over £23,000 had been raised so far but plenty more sponsorship monies are due to come in from all the individual walkers sponsorships. They hoped to beat the 2009 total of £53,000.

This year the Itex-Rotary Walk is supporting The Guernsey Arts Commission, Guernsey Scouts World Jamboree, The Guernsey Sailing Trust, The Lihou Charitable Trust, The Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Guernsey Cheshire Home.

"We welcome the opportunity to begin a connection with the Itex-Rotary Trust charity walks on our sister islands of Jersey and Guernsey. Through the formation of this relationship, our Bermuda participants will now have the opportunity to experience a walking adventure on the beautiful Channel Islands as well as on our own special home in the Atlantic. I believe that many of our walkers will take up the challenge of completing all three walks in the years to come and we want to extend a warm Bermuda welcome to any and all Itex-Rotary Trust participants who would like to join us one day soon." – Anne Mello, Chairperson, Bermuda End-to-End.

Further information on the Bermuda End-to-End Walk can be found at http://www.bermudaendtoend.bm/

Welcome to the Itex-Rotary Walk 2010 website. We hope that you enjoy the new layout of the site and find it easy to use.

This is not just another charity walk this is one of the best walks in Guernsey and we want to make this an event for you to remember. We are hoping that more than 500 people will take part by attempting to walk 40 miles around the coastal and cliff paths of Guernsey. Alternatively, you can do a section of the path if that better suits you.

Registration for the 2010 walk is now open. To register for either the full 40 mile walk around the island of Guernsey, or the mini walk which starts at Bordeaux and finishes at the Liberation Monument simply download our registration form by clicking on the Media tab and selecting Documentation & Links

The Itex-Rotary Walk has rounded off another record year by donating £23,260 in November and December to 11 needy local charities.

Each year the Itex-Rotary Walk raises thousands of pounds for local charities. This year a grand sum of £55,000 was raised, the majority of which has already been distributed to seven charities to include, Guernsey Jumbulance Holidays, Guernsey Fibromyalgia Support Group, and the Guernsey Society for the Physically Disabled. Following the overwhelming response to fund raising in 2009 a surplus of £23,260 has been awarded to a further 11 local charities.

One of the charities to directly benefit from this surplus is Guernsey Welfare Service Ltd, a local charity which has been supporting poorer members of the Island for over 100 years. Speaking of the contribution Helen Wood, Welfare Officer of the Guernsey Welfare Service said:

"We are tremendously grateful to Itex for their generous donation. With unemployment on the rise, Christmas can be a particularly difficult time of year for poorer members of the island. This contribution of £2,000 has allowed us to fund children’s winter coats and shoes for needy families. If we had not received this donation from Itex, we simply couldn’t have made this happen. "

Home-Start Guernsey, a local charity ensuring parents have the support to give children the best possible start in life, were also among the beneficiaries of this surplus funding. Margaret Spaargaren Chairperson of Home-Start said:

"We held our first Christmas party on Saturday 12th December at Béau Sejour for the children and families we support. The generous donation of £1,000 we received from Itex contributed to a very special evening. The children were treated to party food, and there were also refreshments available for their families, Father Christmas also paid a visit and brought gifts for all of the children. "

Richard Parker, Managing Director of Itex Guernsey said: "Itex is heavily invested in supporting the Guernsey Community through the Itex-Rotary Walk. This event continues to attract more participants every year and in 2010 we are hoping to encourage more than 500 people to take part, we will be announcing further details in January 2010. "