We’re excited to say that, all being well, we are planning to get on our way to Rome again in late March almost exactly 2 years after Covid 19 stopped us in our tracks. Of course the pandemic is far from over but things are much easier now thanks to the vaccination campaigns both here and in the other countries we plan to pass through. France opened its doors again to British travellers early in February and the ferry companies are now allowing foot passengers again. However other matters have also moved on since March 2020. Most significantly for us, Brexit has been implemented and this has has new implications for how long we can remain in the Schengen Area and therefore the timing of what we can achieve and when. Unfortunately the new rules didn’t seem to take into account the needs of those who are travelling slowly through, whether on foot, bicycle or on a boat. We are hoping to resolved this by applying for long term visas for France but even that is not without complications.
Also our previous fundraising platform VirginMoney.giving announced that they were closing down last November and have since ceased to operate. All funds raised up to that date were passed to the three charities. We have now moved our fundraising hub to JustGiving which is a well known and trusted fundraising platform in the UK. It is very easy to use. If you already have an account with them simply log in, search for Salisbury to Rome 2020 and follow the instructions. If you don’t have an account and don’t want one it is easy to make a donation as a guest.
So far we have raised close to £3000 for the three charities, plus a very generous £10.000 donation made in our name to the Salisbury Hospital Stars Appeal.
Thank you to all those who have made donations to date.