Lynn News - Miles ahead in helping charities 13th dec 2005

Miles ahead in helping charities

Charity cyclist David Foulkes with his trusty two-wheeled steed.

Published Date: 13 December 2005

David Foulkes has travelled almost 5,000 miles to raise more than £21,000 for those less fortunate than himself.

From cycling hundreds of miles from John o'Groats to Lands End and walking from Lynn to London in a weekend, to pushing a hospital bed around Hunstanton in fancy dress – Mr Foulkes has done them all – and more.

"At the end of the day, if I can make someone smile and say thank you, I'm over the moon," he said.

It was his first fundraiser in the 1970s that inspired Mr Foulkes to raise more for good causes, and since then he has supported many charities including Snettisham's Tapping House Hospice, the NSPCC, Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital and, more recently, the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.

Mr Foulkes, of Crescent Road, started his fundraising when he was an employee and shop steward for the Transport and General Workers' Union at Donald Cook's West Lynn factory.

"At that particular time, unemployment was starting to creep up. We had a big meeting and decided to form an unemployed works centre in Lynn.

"Because we wanted to raise funds for it to run, two people involved in the centre asked me if I'd like to go on a walk to London."

He added: "It was about 140 miles and we did it in a weekend. We were moving. My feet were really aching at the time because I'd never done any walking before. We raised about £1,000."

In the early 1980s Mr Foulkes started working in catering at the National Construction College, Bircham Newton, and he and his colleagues were soon raising cash.

Events included a sponsored walk from Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea Football Club, to Hunstanton's Oasis Leisure Centre, which raised £2,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

The walkers finished their trek on the same day the Oasis was opened by television presenter Judith Chalmers, and North West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham was also on hand to welcome them back.

The intrepid Hunstanton resident has also cycled from John o'Groats to Lands End and back to Hunstanton, in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Accompanied by colleague Mr Brian Ireson and a van with food and other supplies following them, the pair biked 1,500 miles in 12-and-a-half days, and raised £1,500.

"That one really took some doing. When you start from John o'Groats it's 946 miles to the bottom!" he said.
But it was Mr Foulkes' last fundraiser as a college employee that was his most bizarre.

"I wanted to do something different so I organised a bed-push around Hunstanton," said Mr Foulkes, who dressed as a police woman for the event, raising £750 for Sense.

Around 1997 Mr Foulkes changed jobs and started working for Southern Fried Chicken in Hunstanton.

And his fundraising continued, including cycling with a friend from Hunstanton to Felixstowe and back for Bob Champion Cancer Trust ("That's the first time I found out Norfolk's not flat"), and another ride on a similar route for Tapping House Hospice, Snettisham, which marked Mr Foulkes' 20th year collecting cash.

"Then I decided to do something for the Royal British Legion," said Mr Foulkes, who is standard bearer for the Hunstanton branch. In 2001 Mr Foulkes joined 54 fellow members cycling 255 miles to Brussels, which saw him collect £610 in sponsorship for the Poppy Appeal.

Having covered hundreds of miles at a time, a four-mile fundraiser from Heacham to Hunstanton sounds easy to someone as fit and fearless as Mr Foulkes. But a wheelchair push over this distance was one of his toughest tests.

"I was told I was a fool, but it was no good telling me – I still did it. At the end I felt like I'd done a 50 mile push," said Mr Foulkes, who raised £881.81 for the Poppy Appeal.

Among his many other fundraising expeditions Mr Foulkes organised a Heroes Return walk to mark the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, from Lynn Railway Station to Hunstanton, laying wreaths at war memorials en route.

This raised £1,628 for the Poppy Appeal and saw the walkers have their picture taken in front of Sandringham House, by permission of The Queen.

Next on the list is Mr Foulkes' City to City bike ride in July next year with three Royal British Legion members. This will include Leicester, Coventry, Walsall (where he was born) and Tamworth.

Tropics Fast Food of Dersingham will pay for Mr Foulkes' bed and breakfast fees for this challenge.

Over the past ten years Hunstanton cycle business Fat Birds Don't Fly has provided equipment for his journeys.

Mr Foulkes is currently cycling a number of miles a week to get prepared, and will train on his exercise bike in winter.
And he has enjoyed helping so many charities. "It's a labour of love," he said