Colin McArthur is a man on a mission.
A mission to help raise awareness (and much needed research funding) for a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa.
As part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival, Colin (who is blind through RP), joined by local author David Yates, will be walking around the coastline of the beautiful Isle of Wight.
Raising money for Retinitis Pigmentosa research
Colin tells us that the object of the walk is to enjoy the wonderful views and to raise money for research into Retinitis Pigmentosa, to enable those with this eye condition to one day enjoy these views too.
They’ll be using Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park as their base for the week and as you’ll see from the itinerary below, they’ll have a busy week of walking between 7th-13th May.
Several events have been planned for walkers and helpers throughout the week, including the welcome reception, a chance to hear David speak about his book and an end of walk function.
Itinerary for the week
The basic itinerary which may be subject to alteration is as follows …
Saturday 7th May Whitecliff Bay to Seaview, (about 6 miles)
Setting off from reception at Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park at around 3pm. Reaching Seaview at around 5pm. An official reception will be held at Whitecliff Bay at 7pm.
Sunday 8th May Seaview to Gurnard (about 12 miles)
Sunday’s walk will start from the seafront at Seaview at 10am. After a brief lunch break at Wootton Bridge, the aim is to reach Gurnard by 4pm.
Monday 9th May Gurnard to Hamstead (about 13 miles)
The walk will resume from the seafront at Gurnard at 10am. After a brief lunch break at Porchfield, they aim to reach Hamstead by 4pm.
This is a tricky place to stop, but equidistant between Gurnard and Freshwater.
Tuesday 10th May Hamstead to Freshwater Bay (about 12 miles)
Tuesday’s walk will begin from Hamstead at 10am. After a brief stop for lunch at Colwell Bay, the aim is to reach Freshwater Bay by 4pm.
Wednesday 11th May Freshwater Bay to Chale (about 12 miles)
The walk will resume from Freshwater Bay at 10am. After a brief lunch stop at Isle of Wight Pearl, the aim is to reach The Wight Mouse Inn at Chale by 4pm.
Thursday 12th May Chale to Ventnor (about 8 miles)
Setting off from the Wight Mouse at 10am. After a brief lunch at the Buddle Inn, aim to reach Ventnor Paddling pool at 4pm.
Friday 13th May Ventnor to Whitecliff Bay (about 8 miles)
The walk resumes at the paddling pool at 10am. After a brief lunch at Sandown we aim to return to Whitecliff bay by 4pm.
An end of walk function will be held at the centre at 7pm.
Eye Love Sight
Colin tells us that all sponsor money from this event will go to the ‘Eye Love Sight’ appeal which is sponsoring a research project at Southampton Hospital, investigating the possibility of using adult stem cells from the iris to be transplanted to the retina, to re-grow photo-receptor cells that have been wiped out by the defective genes which cause the eye condition Retinitis Pigmentosa.
This condition has the symptoms of night blindness and tunnel vision, which leads ultimately to total blindness in many cases, and is one of the commonest causes of blindness in the working population.
Find out more about RP.
If you’d like to join Colin and David on any of the walks or sponsor the walks, get in touch with Colin or Linda on 01983 406661 or 07935 747332 or email [email protected]
Image: The Travelling Bum under CC BY 2.0
