The team have achieved their goal and walked the 40 miles between Bentley and Southampton!
We are very proud of our team of walkers and our amazing team of volunteers who came together to form the support team.
It was a very busy weekend, long days for the team; as the walkers started walking early each morning! The walkers all suffered some kind of injuries but despite feet hurting, blisters present they carried on and reached their goal! They were all very pleased to see volunteers at each pub along the way and of course those greyhounds who gave so much support along the way!
For most of the route the walking team were joined by at least one greyhound, who took it in turn to walk part of the route with the team (in the shady areas only).
End of Day One ended at The Cricketers, which was a happy site to see, arriving early evening and seeing a nice drink that had been ordered and was waiting for them!
Day Two was the hotter day of the weekend and that didn’t help the walkers, especially walking the last six miles along the roads, no shade and up hill. This was the only part that the team walked alone without any canine friends to help them.
The team enjoyed a cooked meal each day, half way through, to give them the added protein to continue and reach the goal set. Thank you to Justin for an excellent spread that seemed to appear, sometimes just in the middle of nowhere but was gratefully received by the whole team!
Plenty of wildlife was seen along the route, from birds of prey to small mammals. The beautiful countryside was certainly explored on this adventure. The team also had the pleasure of walking through fields of sheep, lambs and cows; now that was an interesting experience, especially with the greyhounds in tow!
Our walking team, helped each other along the way, from jokes to songs and all our support team were excellent about keeping them up beat, even when their feet had really just had enough!
A huge thank you to Paula and Parklife Cafe, who really came onboard to celebrate our arrival at the finish line. From ribbons to balloons, ice bath, party food and Champaign the team were really spoilt! The local newspaper even came down for photos and our story.
We started planning this event in December 2023 as just an idea which quickly became a fixed ‘Let’s Do This!’ January the team started planning and trialling the walk, many miles were walked and by the end of March, the whole event had been planned, sponsors found, equipment ordered and roles in place. Then came the training! The walkers started training at the end of April and gave up a lot of time so they could fully commit to this challenge. We are so lucky to have a wonderful team of volunteers.
A HUGE THANK YOU to EVERYONE who helped organise this huge event, to all our sponsors for the T-shirts, doggie equipment, food, drink and snacks for along the way. We really couldn’t have done this without your support. Thank you to Hedge End Park, Jollyes in Totton and Hampshire Hypnotherapy and Counselling Centre.
THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to this cause, we really do value your support. We will be collecting the collection pots from the pubs this week so we can start to count all those wonderful donations.
Our GoFundMe page will remain open for another couple of weeks, we are so close to our target now. Let’s have one last push at reaching it!
Our GoFundMe link is below:
https://gofund.me/218530d7
Our dream goal of buying some land for a paddock is well on the way now. This amount raised will certainly be a huge chunk of what we need!
Walking Our Kennel Greyhounds:
If you would like to help walk our kennel greyhounds, please get in contact, we are always looking for new volunteers to help us and the greyhounds certainly enjoy their 1:1 attention. All walks are local to Southampton and take place within a group situation.
Our Car-Boot Team need your HELP:
Their stock is pretty low which means they will soon not be able to attend anymore car-boot sales and therefore not be able to raise funds for our kennel dogs. We desperately need your help. If you have any items that are suitable for car-boot sales, please get in contact.
The following items are needed:
Jewellery (real or costume) includes broken gold/silver etc.
Watches (pocket’ wrist’ working or not)
Kitchen small appliances & kitchenware
Small Electronics
Phones, Cameras and Laptops
Tools (garden or DIY) & Garden Ornaments
Boxed Games, Jigsaws & Children’s Toys
Smellies (boxed or single)
Cigar boxes & Brass items
Vinyls
Dog leads, collars, toys, coats etc.
We cannot take – books, CD’s, clothes or shoes.
If your item is not on this list please do email in and ask if we can take it.
Please email [email protected] or alternatively contact us on [email protected]. These items are vital to our success as they bring in considerable and much needed funds for the greyhounds in our care.
Supporting Greyhound Lifeline:
If you would like to support the work that we carry out, knowing 100% of your donation will be spent on the care and welfare of our kennel greyhounds then please consider being a ‘Friend of Greyhound Lifeline’. Click on the link to find out more about this scheme.
We have a range of other ways to support our work which are all really quick and easy to do. Click on the link to find out more – How To Help Us.
Street Collections & Events for 2024:
Saturday 14th September – Fleet Street Collection – 8.30am – 3.30pm.
Saturday 14th September – Freemantle Lake Park Fair – 12pm-5pm
Saturday 28th September – Haskins, West End.
Sunday 29th September – Global Greyhound Walk – Lyndhurst – 10am
Saturday 12th October – Meadows, Camberley.
Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th October – Brambridge Garden Centre.
Saturday 2nd November – Southampton Street Collection.
Saturday 9th November – Hedge End – Marks & Spencer’s
Saturday 16th November – Jollyes in Totton.
Saturday 23rd November – Winchester Street Collection.
Sunday 1st December – Greyhound Lifeline’s Christmas Fair.
Saturday 7th December – Meadows, Camberley.
Saturday 14th December – Farnborough Street Collection.
Friday 20th December – Greyhound Lifeline’s Greyhounds Christmas Party.
Our next nail clipping session in Fleet is:
Saturday 14th September.
Our next nail clipping session in Southampton is:
T.B.C
We are looking for volunteers to join our fundraising team and help at our street collections both around Southampton and also around the Fleet area. If you would like to find out more, please see poster below.
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Our Organised Walks:
We will provide more information about each walk, on our Facebook Page, during the week leading up to each one.
Godshill, New Forest Walk in April.
Sunday 29th September – 10am – Great Global Greyhound Walks
Sunday 27th October – 2pm – Potterne Park, Verwood
Sunday 24th November – 2pm – Burley, New Forest
Thursday 26th December – Boxing Day Walk at 11am – Sandbanks.
New Arrivals:
Devon, Kelpi, Kara and Gigi.
Sweet Gigi.
Reserved Greyhounds:
Stella, Paddy, Cargo, Holly, Devon, Kelpi and Bren.
Homed Greyhounds:
Duke and Minstrel.
Interested in Adopting a Greyhound?
Enquiries should be directed by telephone or text message to Greyhound Lifeline
- For all enquiries:
- 07769 348310
Or by email to enquiries@greyhoundlifeline.co.uk
Or Contact us using our Contact page
