Walk in memory of Ben Fitchett raises over £11,000 for charity

Happier times... Ben Fitchett with dad Peter

The Shaw Hope Walk in memory of Ben Fitchett, which was held in October, has risen over £11,000 for the Papyrus Charity.

Ben, from Balderstone, Rochdale died after falling from a bridge over the M62 in August. He was 14 years old.

The walk saw 105 people take part in either a 20-mile, 10-mile or five-mile walk across Rochdale with a total of 1,225 miles covered.

Peter Joy, event co-organiser and leader of Crompton and Royton District Scout group where Ben was an explorer, said: “The coming together of the Scouting community, our community and the church, has been incredible. What we will never be able to measure is the difference we will make to other peoples’ lives, but we do know that we have made a difference.”

As well as the walk, organisers of the event held evening activities at The North Star Inn in High Crompton. These events included face painting, cake sales, raffles and
tattoo art. In total 200 cakes were sold and 35 faces were painted to help raise the money.

During the evening event, family and friends released balloons in memory of Ben with 50 balloons being released on the night.

The Papyrus charity was founded in 1997 and aims to reduce stigma associated with suicide, increase awareness of young suicide, provide services, campaign as a UK charity, listen and learn and contribute to local, regional and national suicide prevention.

Peter added: “When the idea of getting a few Scouts/Explorers to do a sponsored walk in aid of Papyrus and in memory of Ben was first discussed, we did not envisage just what we were getting into and just how big the event would become. We just wanted to do something positive, however small, when we were all feeling such grief.”

People are invited to St Mary’s church at 10am on 12 January 2014 to hear from Papyrus and find out what the money can do.