Remembering my grandad at Take Steps

Cara shares why she had such an amazing time on her Take Steps walk in memory of her grandad. 

My grandad was absolutely amazing, and I was very close to him. He was diagnosed with COPD in 2008, and sadly passed away in 2014.  

We all miss him so much. That’s why I organised a Take Steps sponsored walk in memory of him, together with loads of friends and family.

Organising the walk

I knew I wanted to do something to remember him. I originally planned to do a skydive, but I needed to slim down a bit first before I would qualify. Then I got a letter in the post about Take Steps.

And I thought, ‘walking? I can do walking! Easy!’

So we planned a long walk of about 15 miles, from Hull to Hornsey.  

Such a great atmosphere

The day itself was incredible - better than I ever thought it would have been, to be honest!

We got our grandad’s face printed on the back of some t-shirts, so everyone knew why we were doing it. Together, we all swapped stories about him.  

It was such a great atmosphere. 

One amazing thing was that out of the blue, loads of people turned up to support us! We got to the end of the road and there were three cars full of people, cheering us on! 

They were screaming “You can do it!” And it wasn't the first time they would surprise us like that. It was amazing. 

The finish line

After more than 4 hours, we were almost at Hornsey - the end of the walk. We could see more family waiting for us.  

My mum said, “let’s just run this last little bit, come on!” We ran to the end, and everyone filmed us! It was amazing. 

We're all so proud of ourselves. I’ve got arthritis, and several of us have COPD so it was lovely to all come together. 

My auntie has breathing problems too. She normally can’t go more than 300 metres without having to stop, and before the walk she was feeling unwell. But in the end she managed to join us, carefully, for some of the route. We were all proud of her.

My mum cried at the end. “I’m so proud” she said.

I couldn’t believe it! It was so emotional. 

Planning to Take Steps?

If you’re thinking about doing a walk, I’d say definitely do it! It brings everyone together and the bond it creates is fantastic. 

And not only did we get to remember my grandad, and have a great day out - we've also raised nearly £400 to date!

The funds can go to helping other people with lung conditions, and help them stay with their family for longer

I’m so glad the British Lung Foundation got in touch. We’re already planning how we can do one next year!

Show your support at Take Steps

We're asking people to join us at our Take Steps walk in Dorking this June, where we're hoping to raise £15,000.  You can also hold your own Take Steps walk and get your family and friends to join. 

Sign up to Take Steps