Online registration for this Sunday’s Bridge the Gap Walk is open until 1pm on Friday 13 September at £18 per person at arhc.org.uk/btg. The leisurely morning stroll of around four miles takes you through the grounds of Christ’s College, Cambridge University Library, Queens’ College, Corpus Christi College, Pembroke College, and Downing College.
You can also sign up on the day, although the price increases to £20 per adult when you register at the start and finish line on Parker’s Piece, between 9.30am and 10.30am. Each adult place includes up to three children free of charge, with donations welcome.
This is the eighteenth year for the walk, which involves close collaboration between the Colleges, the benefiting charities, local community groups and the Bridge the Gap Committee. Since it began in 2001, over £506,000 has been raised for local charitable causes and over 34,000 walkers have taken part!
Arthur Rank Hospice Charity and Romsey Mill, two local charities, will once again be benefiting. Thanks to continued support from Cambridge’s local businesses, community groups and 120 passionate volunteers, every penny raised through walkers’ registration fees, participant sponsorship and donations, goes directly to these two charities.
Entertainment at the start and finish point of Parker’s Piece will include live music with City of Cambridge Brass Band and The Blue Clovers, and dancing from The Cambridge Lindy Hoppers. There will be stalls from headline sponsors The Cambridge Building Society and event partners The Rotary Club of Cambridge and the Co-op (who are also hosting a recycling point for your plastic water bottle!).
The Romsey Mill Pre-School team will be running arts and craft activities and soft-play, whilst Caffe Mobile, The Tin Kitchen and Nanna Mexico will be on-site with post-walk refreshments, alongside Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s ‘Time for Cake Tent’. This year, alongside the array of delicious cake for sale, ‘Great British Bake Off’ fans will be treated to another show-stopping cake from Ian Cummings of GBBO fame!
The musical theme continues around the route, with Jazzwave performing in Pembroke College and the melodious tones of Sing! Choirs at Queen’s Green. For those who love a fact, the Society of Cambridge Tourist Guides will be dotted around the route, ready to point out unique features and furnish you with historical anecdotes. A number of lucky participants will also find a golden envelope within their complimentary bag, winning them a fabulous spot-prize, thanks to generous donations from the likes of Scudamores, Shepreth Wildlife Park, Lush and Novi Bar & Kitchen.
Donna Talbot, Director of Fundraising and Communications adds: "We’re really looking forward to Sunday. Bridge the Gap is such a fabulous day out and has a lovely community feel to it, with families, groups of friends and colleagues, and individuals all taking part. If you’ve never come along before, I would urge you to register now and bring along a friend or neighbour who you think might also enjoy seeing something in Cambridge they haven’t seen before!”
Anyone who would like to share their experiences of the year’s Bridge the Gap Walk is encouraged to use #BTGWalk in their Facebook posts, Tweets and Instagram stories.