Boardmans walk 120km for Cudeca

Tireless, non-stop raisers of cash for local charities, Alan and Jenny Boardman are set to walk the final 120 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago, the historic pilgrimage route, to raise €1,000 for Cudeca. And they are looking for sponsors.

The enormous hike will begin on June 4 and hopefully be completed on June 10 if they can cover approximately 17 kilometres a day to end up in Santiago de Compostela. Inspired by the exceptional care a friend received from Cudeca in her final days, the Boardmans, who have previously fundraised for the charity, are seeking donations to cover meals for seven hospice patients in Benalmadena for a year.

All contributions through the Cudeca platform will go directly to the charity, with no third-party fees. Donors can choose to remain anonymous if they can prefer. The couple are going to share updates on Facebook every day during the walk so to invite supporters to follow their how far they’ve got. Their commitment comes from a deep appreciation for Cudeca’s work, which offers palliative care, comfort and dignity to patients and their families. The Boardmans’ walk is both a physical challenge and a heartfelt tribute to their friend’s memory, hoping to make a real difference for those under Cudeca’s care.

According to Alan, ‘Jenny first heard about the Camino de Santiago when we came to live in Spain more than twenty years ago. It had a spiritual and enigmatic appeal with its essentially Christian history of more than 1000 years. We bought several books all of which were moving and held fascinating stories of personal journeys but we perceived such a venture as impossible – after all, we owned a shop in a white walled tourist village open seven days a week except for January – if we walked it we wanted to walk it together.’

Their interest was piqued. Alan continues, ‘The years went by and we read more books -Jenny’s favourite involves a man walking it with just himself and his donkey – and no, he never rode the donkey. And then Jenny had a hip replacement operation and the dream nudged even further out of reach.’

‘Time didn’t linger in our hands for very long and everyone that knows us is aware that we have been making up for lost time. Lots to fit in. And then eventually, after Jenny’s new hip survived a couple of professional Boot Camps, the vision of the Camino came back on the radar.

As soon as we began to raise the subject we learned that many of our good friends had successfully achieved this ambitious objective – to walk at least part of the wonderful Camino de Santiago – and that whetted our appetite. Our friends have been amazing. So much advice and support and our lovely friend Kathy has even given us ‘angel hair’ to ease our feet and toes.

So the plan began to focus and became a real possibility. And then we said to ourselves ‘well if we’re going to attempt this maybe we could ask our family and friends to support us for a worthy cause’. That would be wonderful.’

To sponsor Alan and Jenny, look up ‘Alan & Jenny Camino de Santiago’ at the cudeca.org website.