L2L practice walks to kick off soon
With the arrival of Covid-19 in South Africa, many organisations were forced to either cancel events or to make adjustments to the format.
The same is true for the Lighthouse 2 Lighthouse committee, which started planning for the 2021 L2L Ladies Walk when the country went to Alert Level 2. Because events at that time were still limited to 50 people, it was decided to split the annual walk into two – one in February and one in May.
“Even though we are now at Level 1 which allows for up to 250 people, we will still be splitting the main walk into two due to a lot of interest from walkers,” says L2L chairperson, Ronelle van Zyl. There will still be only one primary beneficiary who will receive the funds raised by the main walk, and a secondary beneficiary who will receive the funds raised by the practice walks that are held in the months leading up to the main walk.
Thirteen local charitable organisations applied for funding from the 2021 L2L Ladies Walk and registered walkers voted for their top two beneficiaries. Voting closed on 28 September and the chosen charities will be announced in October. Last year’s primary beneficiary, The Butterfly Centre, received R800 000 towards the building of their new school, while the secondary beneficiary, Overstrand Hospice, received R100 000 to buy a new vehicle for their staff.
Adjustments also needed to be made for the practice walks. Whereas before anyone could just show up to join any of the practice walks, this year walkers need to register and buy a ticket online via Quicket (the details can be found on the Lighthouse 2 Lighthouse Facebook page). The proceeds from these ticket sales will also go towards fundraising. The practice walks are only free for the registered walkers doing one of the main walks in 2021.
On the same weekends that each practice walk takes place, there will also be a virtual walk which you can register for from anywhere in the world. “In order to limit the size of groups and ensure social distancing, supporters of L2L are encouraged to take part in the virtual walks in their area instead of driving through to Hermanus to join the practice walks here each month,” says Ronelle. Virtual walkers need to walk a minimum of 5 km and record their route and distance on their fitness app (STRAVA is a good recommendation) and then post a screenshot of the route, along with a photo/video of themselves on their walk to the Lighthouse 2 Lighthouse Ladies Facebook page.
L2L would like to encourage the charities that applied, any interested sponsors, municipal officials and members of the public to join them on their practice walks to see what Lighthouse is all about and to meet the registered walkers who do this challenging walk each year for their local community.
PRACTICE WALK DATES
• 18 October 2020 • 15 November 2020
• 6 December 2020 • 17 January 2020
• 31 January 2020 (Official Practice Walk)