{"id":1187,"date":"2017-07-17T12:10:33","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T11:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1187"},"modified":"2026-01-07T10:19:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:19:47","slug":"walk-dreams-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/walk-dreams-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk for Dreams 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1189\" src=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/walk-for-dreams-2017.jpg\" alt=\"Walk for Dreams 2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/walk-for-dreams-2017.jpg 640w, https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/walk-for-dreams-2017-300x94.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.promisedreams.co.uk\/\">Walk for Dreams<\/a> has come around very fast. Usually the event is held in the autumn, but the team at Promise Dreams decided to bring it forward to July \u2013 and what a success it was!<\/p>\n<p>Like last year we had members of our team taking part in the walk and marshalling. This was the fourth year in a row that we have been involved in Walk for Dreams and it\u2019s still as much fun as the first. Recently Promise Dreams asked us why we take part every year. And well that was easy to answer. Walk for Dreams is a great family day of fun \u2013 it makes you feel good about yourself by helping a fantastic charity and raising money for such as good cause and it\u2019s a great team building exercise! You can read our blog from why we love to take part in Walk for Dream here.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A huge \u00a321K raised so far for Walk for Dreams 2017<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This year\u2019s walk has raised an amazing \u00a321,000 for the charity and as more sponsorship forms are given in I think we can expect this total to rise some more!!<\/p>\n<p>This is an incredible amount of money. It will easily help tens of families get the dreams they deserve. This, along with our reasons above, is why we take part in Walk for Dreams.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>An early start getting ready for Walk for Dreams<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It was an early start for those marshalling. We met at The Dudley Arms for briefing and to be guided to our posts. Like last year, Direct2U were appointed at the Hollybush Inn on the Penn road at the first water station. We love being positioned there. It\u2019s almost the half way point, and it gives us chance to chat to the walkers and spur them on as they crack on with the rest of the walk (usually after a quick drink in the pub!).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1190\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1190\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1190\" src=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ready-for-the-walk-2017.jpg\" alt=\"Ready for the walk 2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ready-for-the-walk-2017.jpg 640w, https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ready-for-the-walk-2017-300x141.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1190\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our marshals ready for the walk to begin at the water station.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile the rest of our team and all the other walkers were gathering at Himley Hall at the start line. There was even time for a few quick selfies with celebrities Steve Bull and Pete the Pirate from TOWIE.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>And then, at 11 O\u2019clock with the sun shining they were off!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It was almost 12 O\u2019clock before we saw the first walkers at the water station. And from then on there was a steady stream of walkers for the next hour. There were some tired legs, but nothing a quick stop wouldn\u2019t solve. And then they were all off with about 5 miles to go.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Walkers in the spotlight<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Like always plenty of walkers dressed up for the occasion. There were clowns, Pikachu onesies, road cones, lots of festival glitter and a whole crew of pirates! The Pirates were in honour of Pete the Pirate from TOWIE who joined Freya\u2019s Walkers for Walk for Dreams 2017. As you can imagine this caused quite a stir and much excitement throughout the day!<\/p>\n<p>It was fantastic that he had chosen to support Freya and Promise Dreams by walking with her. And boy did their costumes look great! This was the 7<sup>th<\/sup> year Freya\u2019s Walkers have taken part, after Freya was granted her own dream by Promise Dreams. Every year they take on a different theme and costume (in the past we\u2019ve seen super heroes and an alien invasion!) \u00a0and this year didn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Time to celebrate!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The end of Walk for Dreams at Wolverhampton Racecourse is always a joyous occasion. The atmosphere this year was fantastic. There were lots of celebrations as people crossed the finish line and headed for a well deserved rest and drink. The end event took on a Wimbledon theme showing the final and serving up strawberries and cream (delicious). There were plenty of activities for children including bouncy castles and face paints. With live music from popular local bands and entertainment from Signal 107.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1191\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1191\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1191\" src=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/end-of-walk-2017.jpg\" alt=\"end of walk for dreams 2017\" width=\"640\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/end-of-walk-2017.jpg 640w, https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/end-of-walk-2017-300x141.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1191\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">What better way to celebrate the end of Walk for Dreams 2017 than with some strawberries and cream!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>If you missed the walk this year then there\u2019s always next years! It\u2019s one of Promise Dream\u2019s key fundraising events during the year and a great day to be part of. We\u2019d like to say a huge congratulations to all those who walked \u2013 you did an amazing thing and raised an incredible amount of money! And also a big thank you to Promise Dreams for putting on yet another brilliant day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year Walk for Dreams has come around very fast. Usually the event is held in the autumn, but the team at Promise Dreams decided to bring it forward to July \u2013 and what a success it was! Like last year we had members of our team taking part in the walk and marshalling. This was the fourth year in a row that we have been involved in Walk for Dreams and it\u2019s still as much fun as the first. Recently Promise Dreams asked us why we take part every year. And well that was easy to answer. Walk for&#8230; <a class=\"read-more-button\" href=\"https:\/\/direct2u.co.uk\/blog\/walk-dreams-2017\/\">Read more <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-1187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-direct2u-network","tag-walk-for-dreams"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Walk for Dreams 2017 - Direct2U Network Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What a day - Walk for Dreams 2017 was a great success raising \u00a321K for the charity. 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