Thanks for the offer . But it was never about me . It was always about James . It cost me whatever it cost me , and I was , and am , prepared to write off the cost . You can (hopefully) choose wether to accept a refund or let it go as intended . Although I could do with it I certainly wouldn't accept it .



If it were possible that you could take a few miles off my aching feet though I would more than gladly let you .

Your a true gent mate

, just want to say I really admire you for what you've done here, you along with Ritz have done all you can and none of this is your fault although it is not fair your out of pocket to be honest.



All that's needed is for Andy to get in touch, release funds so that they can either be refunded to CC cards if possible and any funds that cannot be returned could be used to cover the costs paid out by BaldRick and Ritz and donated to a specialist Down's charity maybe.

Im not bothered by what ive paid out gill and will use the boots etc in future anyway, just wish they would get in touch to make sure they are ok, no doubt my wife will give me chores to do in my time off booked as well.

Same here re chores . Neighbours are loving me being at home . Cut grass in four gardens today and mended a fence . Wondering what tomorrow will bring .



Wish we had some news . Must hear something soon .

James is ok . After a good few hours trawling the internet and lots of calls I was able to track him down .



I spoke to one of his carers . All I can say at the mo is that he is ok .



Hopefully have more info later .

Right then .

James was advised by his doctor 'a few weeks ago' that he shouldn't take part in such a physically demanding challenge . At that point if there had been any training or practicing for the walk it ended .

That is the point at which we should have all been informed that the walk was off .

As things stood we were supposed to be appearing on the James Deighton radio show on the 6th May . JD himself has confirmed that he was expecting us , and fortunately for him he had other guests to fill in the gap .

There was also the FORTY/20 magazine ( available in all good newsagents 13th of the month ) . They should have been contacted . There was plenty of time prior to them going to press to pull the story . They could have used that near enough full page for something else .

There were a lot of people arranging things , and they were allowed to continue wasting their time and money on a project that was just not happening .



That is as much as I know so far .



Now we need to try and sort the refunds out , then we can move on and put it down to experience .



Just need Andy to come on and tidy things up .

It is looking highly probable that the boots , and other equipment I bought , are going to be of some use after all . It is looking like mid-August I will be doing the Wainwright coast-to-coast walk for Yorkshire Kidney Research . Just sorting out a few details before making a final decision . Should I get the ok to go ahead then I will have to play catch-up because walking partner will be setting off a over a week before me as she ain't well and can only manage 10 miles a day . She will be in B&B every night while I will be roughing it in a tent and trying to make up the 120 or so miles head-start she gets . Hopefully walking together on the final two days .



Wish me luck

Good luck with that pal.

Rick do you have a just giving page for that? I am sure a few on here would like to support you after your attempts to help our club.

I ain't 100% yet that I am doing it yet , but it is already arranged for the other walker ( I think she is a Bradford lass ) on the Yorkshire Kidney Research Fund website . The secretary of the YKRF was going to sort out a birthday cake for James . I promised to do something to help YKRF in return for that favour . They have asked me if I want to join in this walk .

I am checking the logistics at the mo . Got permission from the better half . Just trying to figure out if it is do-able on my own with no back-up , and when/where I would catch up . This would be a proper challenge . Need a day on google to sort things .



Wondering how much it would have cost me to just buy a cake





*EDIT* Kate is a teacher of at Knowleswood Primary School in Holmewood, Bradford .



Definitely one of yours . Why does everything I do recently have a Bradford link ?



#closetBull

The force is strong in this one



Join The Dark Side

Somebody did mention getting me a couple of tickets to a Bulls game . Might have to accept the offer and stand with the fat-dogs . Now that would be interesting having seen the reception Mick got last time I spotted him in the SouthStand . I actually dragged a couple of lads back that were heading his way .