A IAntaliandventure I
n October some of the Class of 1982 took part in a 100k walk in
Tuscany to help raise funds for a wonderful Italian charity called Aiaba.
Aiaba is a special school in Florence for children with autism. Its future aim is to provide long-term residential care for the young people as they become adults and still need support. This is a major task to finance. Indira Perciballi (née Graffius) and Piero's middle son is 21 now and has been all the way through Aiaba and now needs the school more than ever - especially the residential facility yet to exist.
We shared rooms, some with bunk beds, on some nights we ate in huge dining halls which brought back fond memories of school days. We all completed the walk and were met in Siena by the mayor’s tourist officer. The following day we met some Aiaba staff, parents and pupils, who gave us a fantastic reception and took us to see the current limited facilities that they have.
Jo (née Blake), Claire (née Williamson), Cecilia (née McKenzie), Jane (née Garner), Catherine (née Stubbs), Suzie (née Ramagge), Caroline (née Cronin), Lucy (née Westlake), Helen (née Campbell) and 4 other friends and family took on the challenge. Indira (née Graffius) organised the route and booked us into some spectacular monasteries and hostels en route.
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As the walk was along the Via Francigena pilgrim’s route from Canterbury to Rome, some of us met at Canterbury Cathedral for a short service and blessing to send us on our way. We then walked to Dover. A few weeks later the whole group met in Italy where we walked and talked our way along four stages of the route through the beautiful Tuscan countryside. We were joined by some Italian Aiaba supporters on one of the days.
The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2017 5
Our target was to raise 15,000 Euros for Aiaba. We kick started the fundraising with a stall at the Mayfield Michaelmas Fair, selling an assortment of jams and fudge and raised £500. Denise (née Del Guidice) donated 2 of her beautiful paintings and Cecilia’s aunt, OC Elizabeth Byrne Hill (néeMackenzie, Class of 1958) managed to raise £470 through the UK Just Giving Site.
In total we have raised £17 (20,385 Euros)...
, 916
In total we have raised £17, 916 (20,385 Euros) and we hope the funds will go a long way towards helping with the new and much needed premises. The whole experience and publicity it has generated has already raised awareness for the charity in Italy, and we look forward to hearing about their progress in the near future.
We would like to thank everyone for their huge generosity. We hope to continue our support and may even return to walk a few more stages of the Via Francigena.
Aiaba is now a fully registered charity and if anyone would like to make a donation, please contact Indira by email at
percindi@gmail.com.
OC
Helen Ramagge (née Campbell) Class of 1982
T sa y uc n
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