104 year old Ruth walks for Charity
One of our Newbury Quaker members is Ruth Saunders, who is 104 years old. During Covid lockdown she was getting fed up with being locked in and decided to do some walks near her home. Her son encouraged her to go a bit further each day. Then, inspired by Captain Tom, she decided to walk to raise money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance, as in the past her son received their help. She wanted to raise the £3000 it costs for every Air Ambulance launch.
‘My target was my age, 104 walks, but my grand daughter said: ‘You’ve got to do a marathon’, so instead of 104, I shall do 130’. That is some distance for someone who was born during the 1st world war.
‘The last 2-3 laps were a bit touchy, the weather was bad, but I did it. I always knew I could do it, when I start something, I always want to finish it’, which she did at the Newbury Race course ground on November 4. At the time of writing total raised was £36.915
Ruth has a message for Captain Tom: ‘Tom, I have done it!’
A 7 minute video of BBC South reporting on this can be seen on Youtube.
Maria Grace
