Walking for Wildlife

27/06/2021

So yesterday I did 3 walks and completed 50,000 steps, 20 miles.

Firstly a shorter walk round to Jubliee wood with my daughter, then a long 13 mile walk to Fairhaven Water Gardens and back home the LONG way! Finally a walk around the village before bed.

So lucky to be able to walk out our front door and straight onto walks into the countryside. On my travels I saw a hare, a Kite, a Kingfisher and 7 fluffy grey cygnets to name just a few of the wildlife.

26/06/2021

Peaceful spot for a coffee break!

23/06/2021

Glorious walk today with my mum along the Bure Valley Railway. We walked from Wroxham to Aylsham then I got a lift back to Coltishall and walked the rest of the way back to Wroxham.

Always such beautiful scenery and you get a wave from the friendly train drivers as they go past!

We saw numerous wildlife along the way; squirrels, cinnabar’s, painted lady’s, red admirals, dragonflies, bees, kestrel, buzzards along with horses and cows.

I always love this walk as it passes my grandparents old farm, and places my mum used to live. As I had my mum with me this time she told me stories from her childhood which I’ve not heard before. 💖

I took a couple of passengers with me today - Mums do strange things for their kids - I worried that I’d abandoned my car in a run down car park with no one around and what if it got broken into! My daughters favourite 2 toys were in there and so to make sure they stayed safe I decided to take them with me!! 😂🤦🏻‍♀️ They popped up in a couple of piccys!

19/06/2021

Great walk this afternoon with my sister, starting at How Hill to St.Benets Abbey, Ludham and back. Just under 3 hours. Not a walk for little people or buggies but recommended. Not only did we get to look round the Abbey but also saw 4 heron on the riverbank Although we didn’t do the beautiful secret garden at How Hill you could easily add this on too. All this practically on our doorstep!

21231 more steps done.

17/06/2021

This is one of the amazing places we are raising money for, just look at all the different types of creatures they help. Great work and we are happy to be doing our small bit to help.

If you’d like to donate please visit our page, every little bit helps and we are very grateful, thankyou.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/kmjmec-walking-for-wildlife?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

16/06/2021

To make the most of the sunshine and because I needed to get a big load of steps done, I decided to walk around Whitlingham today and around and around and around. I aimed to walk 5 laps!

Lap 1 - feeling happy to be out walking in the sun and admiring the view.

Lap 2 - feeling hot and sticky but still loving the views and the quick drink stop.

Lap 3 - back of my legs starting to feel tight but by now loving the fact the sun was behind some clouds! Quick bite to eat and off again.

Lap 4 - my feet were telling me they were getting a bit fed up of walking!

Lap 5 - not sure I could do it, but I did want to achieve what I set out to do so I kept thinking about raising money for the wildlife rescue centres that I know are both currently overwhelmed with little creatures needing their help, so plodding (no spring left in my step) I completed lap 5.

Then had to rush home to collect daughter from school and nearly fell out of the car at school as my feet forgot to move! 🤣😩

32298 steps done today, 12.9 miles.

12/06/2021

Morning walk at Horsey today, what’s not to love about breakfast on the beach with some Dinos! 🦖 🦕

02/06/2021

Late afternoon walk on the beach between Cromer and Overstrand. 🐙🦀☀️🌊

Even got in a bit of kite flying before my daughter turned into a mermaid!

If you are heading to the beach this half term don’t forget to take our beach spotter guide which can be found in photos.

29/05/2021

We will be be walking into June!

Due to various circumstances I’ve not yet reached my half million steps in May. So I thought we could just keep walking in June too, we might actually get to walk in some sunshine! I’ve added a few extra steps to our targets too!

Plus that means more time to discover and share new walks and raise more money!

Today we walked around How Hill, we went a few times last year but missed the secret garden. This place really is amazing, a large lawn for picnicking, river walks, scrumptious ice cream, beautiful woodland walk and the secret garden should definitely not be missed, especially at this time of year. Truly beautiful.

We really do live in such a beautiful part of the country. 🌸🌺🌼

10/05/2021

It's Mental Health Awareness Week, 10-16 May

Aside from wanting to help our wildlife, getting out and walking has really helped my mental health over the past year. A walk really helps clear my head and allows me to realise I am part of something bigger and I feel that I have room to breathe again.

These photos were taken during a recent walk around Ranworth Broad and hopefully depict the serenity I felt whilst walking there.

09/05/2021

Keep an eye on the hedgehogs that visit you. 🦔

UPDATE: little boy died about an hour ago. At leat he was warm and comfortable.

This little boy arrived this morning. As you can see, he is too weak to curl up and is extremely dehydrated. He is also cold. This is the result of being left out overnight to ‘wait and see’ after being seen curled up outside during the day. I have given him warmed subcut fluids and made him comfortable in an incubator with a little fleece over him. Even so, this little chap won’t make it. It’s too late for him. It’s Hedgehog Awareness Week this week so please, for me and for this little boy, SPREAD THE WORD. IF A HEDGEHOG IS OUT DURING THE DAY IT IS LOOKING FOR HELP. DON’T WAIT, not for a night or a day or an hour. GET IT TO A RESCUE ASAP. A female building a nest or feeding young will be moving energetically, with purpose! She WILL NOT be laid down or sunbathing or having a rest. This little boy’s organs are failing because he was left. PLEASE, help me spread the word. Thank you 🦔.

09/05/2021

Featured Walk 2 - Poringland Woods

We had fun discovering this woodland last year. There is a fairy walk, with lots of fairy doors placed amongst the trees, which was a huge hit for my daughter!

Its a circular walk around a large basin, great for kids and dogs to run up and down and have adventures in. You don't need to do the circuit though as there are lots of paths criss-crossing each other so you can pick a route to suit you. It has a small shallow stream where kids can paddle, fallen trees to climb on and hunt for bugs in as well as benches to sit, relax and enjoy the surroundings.

Beware if you have a pushchair as with the recent rain it may be a little boggy at the far end away from the car park but stick to the wider paths and you should be fine.

A great place for all the family, how many fairy doors can you spot!?

08/05/2021

08/05/2021

With that hope that tomorrow will be nicer weather here is an activity to make your walk more interesting.

We have also added Scavenger hunts and Spotters Guides to our photos page. Just print and take with you and help give your little ones things to hunt and seek. 🥳

08/05/2021

It may be raining and grey but we can help bring sunnier times to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife in Norfolk, just by walking...... easy!

It's not too late, we'd love you to join us!

03/05/2021

During today’s walk we played hide the koala!

03/05/2021

Colouring sheet perfect for a rainy bank holiday afternoon!

02/05/2021

Walked around our village today, but still some wonderful views! Add your favourite walking views below in comments - I’d love to see them.

30/04/2021

FEATURED WALK 1 - BURLINGHAM WOODLAND WALKS

Our first feature walk is a new discovery of ours, which is a bit embarrassing to admit considering its only a 5 minute drive from our home and we spent much of last summer walking! But this is really a lovely place to walk.

When we last went the bluebells were just starting to come through, so I imagine there will soon be beautiful carpets of blue.

There are wide paths suitable for all abilities and walks of differing lengths through woodland and with views of the wide Norfolk farming countryside, even a few horses to spot.

If you visit there are lots of unusual things to spot such as Acle High School student art installations, their very own Henge, bug and butterfly house. If you've got little ones, why not take our Burlingham Woodland Walks spotters guide with you to keep them interested!

There is limited parking near the church, though people also park on the road leading up to the church drive. There are no facilities onsite so take you own refreshments, sit on one of the many benches and take a break from walking.

This is definitely a new favourite walk of ours that we will be visiting again soon and we hope you enjoy it too.

30/04/2021

Keep track of your steps and keep on target!

30/04/2021

30/04/2021

So we've cleaned our trainers and charged our fitbits and we are ready for the 1st May - the first day of our 2021 walking challenge!

I’m aiming for 650,000 steps by end of June (approx. 260 miles) and my animal loving daughter is aiming for 500,000. This year we have school and work to juggle with walking so if you’d like to help us get to a grand total of 2 million steps please join us.

If you'd like to do the challenge with us, just log your steps when you walk. Then at the end of June just comment below with how many steps you have done. To help keep track you can download a step chart from the photos tab, this is a great aid for keeping motivated!

We are doing this to raise money for rescue centres in Norfolk, who have been severely hindered in their usual fundraising activities during the recent lockdowns. We love seeing wildlife when walking and so we want to help these centres continue to save our local wildlife that have been injured, orphaned or abandoned. Any monies raised will go to Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue in Hemsby and Wildtouch Rescue near North Walsham to help them buy food, medication and supplies.

It would be great if you could promote our fundraising to your family and friends to help us raise as much as possible.
Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/days-walking-for-wildlife. Any amount you can spare will be much appreciated and will help us keep walking.

If you are unable to walk with us or leave a donation you can still help by sharing our page to help us get the word out there.

Every little bit helps and we are very grateful for your support. 🙂

Don't forget to check out our weekly featured walks, spotters guides and craft activities.

Handy step guide:
Adults are advised to walk 10,000 steps per day, so that would be a monthly target of 310,000.

Children are advised to aim for approx. 12,000 steps a day, which would be a target of 372,000 but you might think it wise to give them room for a few days off and still make their target achievable - for this reason I've set my daughters target at 320,000.

Average of 5,000 steps per day would be a target of 155,000.

Average of 15,000 steps per day would be a target of 465,000.

21/04/2021

WE ARE PUTTING OUR WALKING SHOES ON AGAIN!

May is National Walking Month and my daughter wanted us to bring back Walking for Wildlife, but she wants us to go BIG!

However there are only so many hours left in the week after school and work to go walking so we need your help!

Would you like to join us in raising money for wildlife? Can you help us hit 2 million steps and raise £500?

Maybe you’re bored of walks after the past year but we’ve still got a few weeks before more lockdown restrictions are lifted and I’ve got ideas to help make your walks fun again.... kids joining packs, wildlife photo and drawing competitions, treasure trails, scavenger hunts and more....

All we’d like is for you to spread the word and help raise money for our local wildlife rescue centres that have been hard hit by lockdown.

Walking will commence 1st May and all steps counted until end of the month will go towards our target.

More details coming soon.... in the meantime if you are interested in ‘Walking for Wildlife’ please comment below so we can make sure you get the info.

18/08/2020

[ FINAL TOTAL ]

Thank you to everyone who donated, with money from family and our donation page we raised our target total of £250, which is amazing. 😁

This money will shortly be on its way to helping our local wildlife. 🦊 🦌 🐇 🐓 🦆 🐿

02/08/2020

[ WE DID IT! ]

Sorry it has taken me a day to post this, but on Friday we did it! We completed the challenge we set ourselves on 1st July to walk and raise money for wildlife.

I walked 501,718 steps, 201 miles, whilst ‘C’ walked 386,739 steps which was 81 miles.

During the last week of the challenge we walked and walked! We covered Whitlingham twice, the Bure Valley Railway walk, Strumpshaw Fen, How Hill, Norwich Cathedral, around Acle numerous times and ended the challenge walking along the beautiful Cromer beach.

This challenge has been so worthwhile in many ways, it has gotten us out of the house after months of homeschooling, we’ve discovered many beautiful new places to walk, my daughter has loved seeing and learning about so many different wildlife, it has lifted me from feeling low to believing again that I can achieve things I set out to do, and we have raised money to help John and Tonia rescue animals at the Foxy Lodge in Hemsby. So I think the walking will continue now, but maybe after a break this weekend!

Thank you to everyone that joined us on walks, suggested walks, liked and shared our page, but mostly thank you to those who have donated.

We’d love to get a few more donations so if you are able to help please use this link, thank you:😀

https://www.gofundme.com/f/kmjmec-walking-for-wildlife?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

31/07/2020

[ FINAL DAY ]

It’s our final day of the challenge and I have just 11,000 steps to go to achieve my target of half a million walked during July.

But, great news, my daughter completed her step target yesterday during a brilliant afternoon at How Hill. I am so proud of her achievement and her dedication to doing this challenge. Honestly I thought give it a couple of days and I’d be having to cajole her to come out and walk but she has been eager to go every day. So she has done 370,000 steps in July. Woohoo!

Now I just need to finish mine, think we are heading down to the beach again today so it should be a fun last day of the challenge.

29/07/2020

We love picnics on our walks and this is our second this week already. Our first got us a photo and mention in the EDP today! Fame at last 😂

24/07/2020

[ ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE ]

Whilst I enjoy the walking, for my daughter the best bit about our walks has been spotting animals and wildlife. As I’ve said before she has a bug hunting kit that we take everywhere as well as insect, butterfly and bird identification checklists! Yesterday we walked around Taverham Mill and got to add Highland cattle to our list of animals seen!

This love of animals is why we are walking and doing this challenge. To say homeschooling was difficult is an understatement 😂, so we did a lot of activities outside. Recently we’ve made a hedgehog house, squirrel feeding platform, bug hotel and planted wildflowers to attract butterflies and bees. We’ve even been to watch some badgers which was something I’ve wanted to do for ages.

Seeing animals and wildlife in their natural habitat has been a great learning resource for us. So helping Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue help these creatures when they are hurt or abandoned means more for us to see! 😀

21/07/2020

[ 10 days to go ]

We have just 10 days to go until the end of the challenge and we are on track to achieve our targets. :-)

My daughter is doing so well that (with her consent!) her target has been increased to 370,000. I'm sticking with my original 500,000.

C has done 253604
I have done 304937

We have had some lovely walks recently, namely Strumpshaw Fen and Haveringland Park. Photos attached showing some of the wildlife we have encountered and one of my daughter bug hunting, which has become the new way to keep her entertained on walks!

Thanks for all the walk ideas, keep them coming.... and thanks to those who introduced me Routes for Little Boots, it's a great site and something we'll use post challenge.

18/07/2020

[INSPIRATION PLEASE ]

Most of yesterday’s steps were completed at Banham Zoo, today we are planning to visit Strumpshaw Fen.

If you know any good walks or unusual places around Norfolk where we can up our step count do let us know - we are 3 weeks into the challenge and would love some new places .......

It’s been great discovering so many local walks previously unknown to us!

15/07/2020

Beautifully peaceful morning coffee in the park - first walk of the day!

12/07/2020

It’s a lovely sunny, warm walk this afternoon and I’m child-free!

Just the butterflies, birds, bees, dragonflies and crickets for company- perfect! 🦋

Should be out for about an hour and a half today, let’s get walking .....

10/07/2020

[ THE CHALLENGE ]

My 6yr old daughter and I are doing a walking challenge to raise funds for Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue.

Our challenge is to do a certain number of steps by the end of July. My daughter is aiming for 320,000 whilst I am taking on the challenge to reach half a million!

We hope to raise money to support the dedicated John and Tonia continue helping sick, injured and orphaned wildlife during this challenging time. COVID 19 has meant they have had not been able to have the support of their local volunteers nor do their usual fundraising activities so anything you can spare will help them continue their amazing work of rehabilitating, rearing and releasing animals back into the wild. If you are not able to support by donating please do share and like this page.

This challenge was inspired by my animal loving daughter who heard of the challenges being faced by animal shelters and zoos due to COVID 19 and wanted to help. And so 'Walking for Wildlife' was born. The challenge started on the 1st July and will end on the 31st.

C (my daughter) is dedicated to making sure she does her required steps daily and is smashing her target.

My target is definitely proving 'challenging' due to fitting it around other commitments but I am keeping on top of it and feeling confident I will make the 500,000 steps in time!

Donate here to help our wildlife.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/kmjmec-walking-for-wildlife…

many thanks for reading.

My daughter and I are walking to raise vital funds for Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue in Hemsby. My … Sharon Ellis needs your support for Walking for Wildlife