Dear all,
It is with immense pleasure that I can now inform you that the 'Walk for Iraq' event which was held on Saturday the 16th of June, has now generated a staggering £19,000 (and rising) for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Iraq. Please click here to see the letter of thanks from the British Red Cross
Not only has this instantly eclipsed our initial target of £7,000, but the walk now appears as the top fundraiser for the British Red cross on the Justgiving website.
We have also been besieged by both media and peace groups to work together with them in highlighting this cause and not only was the event covered by Asharq Al-Awsat, the leading international Arabic newspaper, it was also recognised by Arabic News Broadcast (ANB) Satellite Channel and Media groups within Iraq.
In addition to this, we have created a group 'Walk for Iraq' on the on-line networking facility Facebook, which to date, has more then 280 members.
Moreover, the bewildering interest in Walk for Iraq, has now inspired different groups in California, Austrailia, New Zealand and Canada to set up their own Walk for Iraq, with the first global walk to be scheduled in New Zealand on the 4th of August 2007. I will be working in conjunction with these groups who will also be generating funds for the Red Cross and utilising the same logo that was created for our walk. We are avidly anticipating your success teams!
When 30 of us embarked on the Hastings to Rye walk last week, we were all fuelled with a desire to change something in Iraq. Facing harsh British weather and surrounded by landscapes as English as fruit cake none of us could have imagined the result of our hike would generate so much interest globally. What started as a small step has now become a collective aspiration of many. Please follow this link to view the comments of our walkers as well as the comments of our global team.
I want to say well done to all the participants for their hard work. Many of them worked on this with their hearts and souls and without them this would not have happened. A very big thankyou to our lovely guide Eric Randall, our wonderful photographer Ezzidin Alwan and Yazen El-Safi, our New Zealand lead for his support and inspiration to globalise the event and set up of the website www.walkforiraq.com. Please note that the website is still under construction so please do come back and visit on a regular basis to see the latest updates.
Also, for those of you who donated, a very very BIG thankyou. Your generosity is truly appreciated, and its with your support that made us reach this amount. For those of you who have pledged but not yet donated then please don't delay. The website is www.justgiving.com/walkforiraq and will be closed soon.
I would like to thank everyone who has given me the support and encouragment to set up and promote this project. Please see our thank you page
Finally, click here to view the photos.
Your good wishes helped us to carry on to the end and for every smiling step we took was a step for a better Iraq.
Please may I ask u to circulate this e-mail to show our achievments and to thank everyone for their support in donating.
Well done to all for making a difference.
Nadia Al-Shadhir
|
