A highlight of the Festival will once again be the Walk Tonbridge Marathon which, this year, takes place on Sunday 24 September. This involves a 26.2 mile walk around Tonbridge and its surrounding villages, with pit-stops at a number of pubs – including The Chaser at Shipbourne, The Poacher and Partridge in Tudeley, and The Bell Inn at Golden Green - for refreshments and encouragement from marshals.
In 2022, the Walk Tonbridge Festival raised nearly £19,000 for charity, with more than £13,000 heading to Sustain, the community food and fuel bank in Tonbridge, and the remainder going to F.E.A.S.T, Hildenborough School and Dementia UK.
“We are really grateful that CooperBurnett is supporting the Festival again this year, their support over the past two years has been really helpful and appreciated,” says James Pavlou from Walk Tonbridge. “We’d love to see even more people take part in this year’s Walk Tonbridge Marathon – and we are already taking bookings. It’s certainly a challenge but we know that people who’ve taken part before have had a really amazing day and made lasting memories, as well as raising money for charity.”
More than 70 people took part in the Walk Tonbridge Marathon last year – which was co-organised by Katie Hilsdon, a Senior Associate at CooperBurnett – including teams from Crowe UK and Sargeant Partnership LLP, as well as Nordic Walkers from Tonbridge and parents from Hildenborough School.
In addition to the Walk Tonbridge Marathon, the Festival will include walks covering subjects including family history, crime and punishment, in the Austen family footsteps and ‘Where Wheels Once Turned’, a history of Tonbridge and its mills (new for 2023). There will also be a photography exhibition at Tonbridge School, with a theme of local wildlife.
With wellbeing in mind, there’s another new walk for 2023 called ‘Connection’ which is being run by The Burnout Counsellor, Lisa Nicholls. The Festival kicks off on Saturday 16 September, with ‘The Sunrise Social’, a 4.5 mile walk through meadows, orchards and woodland, which is being co-organised by James, along with Senior Paralegal, Carla Loveday from CooperBurnett.
“We are so pleased to be supporting the Walk Tonbridge Festival once again and helping make James Pavlou’s amazing vision a reality for another year,” says Joseph Oates, Partner at CooperBurnett. “We are looking forward to entering a TeamCB team into the Walk Tonbridge Marathon again and encourage other teams to join us and raise even more for charity this year.”
You can sign up for the Walk Tonbridge Marathon here.
