AN Oldham activist is putting his best foot forward on a 25-mile Peace Walk to raise money for clearing landmines in Angola.
Richard Outram, will walk from the Peace Pole at Dunwood Park in Shaw – his home town – to the Peace Pole at University of Bradford, where he is a first year Peace Studies undergraduate student.
Money raised by Richard, who is Secretary of the Oldham Pledge to Peace Forum and promotes their work across the borough, will help to clear landmines in Angola.
“I’m pleased to be able to do this walk to support a very worthy cause,” said Richard.
“It is fitting that it is from Oldham, a town with a Council and a Forum of fifty organisations that have signed the Peace to Peace, to Bradford, a City of Peace that is the location of the Bradford University Peace Studies Department and The Peace Museum.”
Businesses, schools and groups across Oldham – including the Saddleworth Independent – have signed the Pledge to Peace promoted by the Forum.
Richard’s sponsored walk will start at 9am on Saturday, December 9 and will end by 11.50am on Sunday, December 10.
Richard added: “Sunday 10 December will be the twentieth anniversary of the date when the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) received the Nobel Peace Prize.
“11.50am Greenwich Mean Time is the exact time that the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony starts in Oslo.”
The walk is part of the Mines Advisory Group’s (MAG) ‘Walk without Fear’ campaign to raise awareness of the work being done to clear landmines from countries affected by conflict and the positive impact that this has on the lives of people.
All monies raised from the walk will go to support the efforts of Manchester-based charity and the UK Government will double all donations with UK aid until Christmas Eve 2017.
Richard added: “This year another amazing international peace organisation is being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), for its achievement in persuading two thirds of the member states in the United Nations to adopt a treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons.
“This walk celebrates the achievements of both ICBL and ICAN in being awarded the peace prize and it is a means to raise money to support MAG’s ongoing work.”
Ellie Coult, Community Fundraiser at MAG, said, “We are incredibly grateful to Richard for supporting the Walk Without Fear appeal.”
Support Richard by donating online on his Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/richard-outram
Working in more than 40 countries since 1989, MAG has destroyed 4.7 million landmines, cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance. MAG makes land safe for agriculture, schools, health clinics and water sources. Find out more online: www.maginternational.org