Charitable fundraising during a pandemic required extra ingenuity on the part of both organisers and participants and Cordwainers rose to the challenge.
Last year’s Cordwainer Charity of the Year was the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) and our former clerk, Liveryman John Miller was determined to do all he could to support it. A trustee of the charity, John pledged to walk 420,000 steps during the month of April 2021, roughly equivalent to the distance from John’s home in Hampshire all the way to Land’s End.
When John retired two years ago, we ran the headline, ‘Clerk hangs up his shoes’, but events have proved us wrong. Like many people, John spent lockdown discovering new walking routes and paths near his home just outside Petersfield. He said, ‘I have really enjoyed walking in lockdown, and have discovered so much of our local area in the beautiful South Downs National Park.’
‘The Cordwainers have supported blind people for hundreds of years, and for over 70 years their main beneficiary in this category has been the Royal Society for Blind Children, whose patron is HM The Queen. I am really pleased to raise funds, which will enable blind and partially sighted children to lead a fuller life.’