A WELSH walker who is hiking around half a marathon a day passed through Monmouth yesterday as part of ‘The Big Walk’.

The Big Walk’s Team Wales arrived in Monmouth yesterday morning (24th May), visiting two projects, first Bridges Centre to find out about their befriending project and then Wyesham Community Woodland Project.

The Big Walk is in it’s second year and is a UK wide event. Four teams of walkers set off last week on routes across each of the UK’s four nations, to shine a light on groups and events that bring people together and working up an appetite for the Big Lunch at the end of their 18 day journeys. The Big Walk is an Eden Communities initiative funded with a grant from the Big Lottery Fund. 

Jude Boutle from Llandrindod Wells is the Welsh walker, selected to take part due to her overwhelming commitment to her community. Jude and Team Wales have walked through the border communities in the east of Wales heading towards Cardiff this weekend before carrying on towards Swansea and finishing back at Llandrindod Wells.

The walkers were bowled over at Monmouth’s Bridges Centre by the crowd waiting to meet them, including Mark Walton Director of Bridges with his staff, volunteers and some participants from the befriending project, the Mayor Terry Christopher and Nick Ramsay Assembly Member amongst others. Jude heard about the work the befriending project does pairing volunteers with older people who appreciate a chat or a hand with their shopping for example. The project includes a car scheme where volunteers help to get people in Monmouthshire out and about. This project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund with a grant made possible thanks to the players of the National Lottery.

Mark Walton Director of Bridges Centre, said: “I am delighted to introduce the Big Walk to this project which has changed the lives of both the volunteers and the people they befriend, the volunteers tell me how much they get from the relationships they make and the people they befriend find it a real lifeline. At the moment we want to recruit more drivers for the Car Scheme, volunteers drive people who need some extra help to get where they want to go and the driver’s mileage is paid back, please contact Bridges Centre if you could give a couple of hours a week to help”.

Jude Boutle, Team Wales walker said: “I can see that befriending is working here at Bridges, the welcome we received has been so friendly. I really enjoyed meeting the people who benefit from the scheme, as well as the volunteers and co-ordinators. It’s based on a simple idea but just spending a few hours chatting with someone else can make so much difference. I hope people will sign up to be drivers for them – volunteers get a lot of satisfaction from being associated with this scheme.”

A group from Bridges headed off with Team Wales to accompany them to Wyesham Community Woodland Project.

Richard Garner, co-ordinator of Wyesham Community Woodland Project, which is a local volunteer group who have transformed an area of woodland into a an inspiring outdoor space for the people of the local community. "The aim of the group is to get this outside space to be used by as many people as possible,” he said. “It gives the community somewhere to meet where people can be social. It’s smack in the middle of the community so you couldn’t ask for better. We have the Scouts and the Guides and other groups who come here to have a fire and a get together. Lots of children come here to build dens too. The great thing about this place is that it’s not far away or hard to get to.”