Lord Bates completes his 1,000 mile #walk4peace
Today, Lord Michael Bates completed his walk from London to Berlin, to raise vital funds for the medical care of child victims of war.
Lord Bates began his fifty seven day walk at the National Candlelit Vigil to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, which took place at Westminster Abbey at 11pm on Monday 4 August.
Driven by his incredible passion and belief in the great work of Friedensdorf International, he tackled the lengthy journey, with a few unexpected obstacles along the way. In total he was able to raise a fantastic £31,375.23 (40,138 euros) for the charity, which will make a huge difference.
His walk was concluded at 10.30am on Monday 29 September by presenting a cheque for the money raised to Hanna Lohmann from Friedensdorf International at the Brandenburg Gate.
Speaking of the work of Friedensdorf International, Lord Bates said:
“My wife and I visited the Peace Village at Oberhausen almost three months ago and saw the incredible work which is going on there, ensuring that child victims of war receive the urgent medical attention they need.
“A few weeks ago I stood on the tarmac at Dusseldorf Airport as a plane of children from Gaza arrived for medical treatment through Friedensdorf. Just a couple of weeks later and some of those children were healthy again and able to return home. Their work wouldn’t be possible without the incredible generosity of hospitals across Germany who give up their time, and of course the dedication and professionalism of the staff and volunteers at Friedensdorf.”
Find out more about his inspirational journey by reading his posts on the DCMS blog and looking at the #walk4peace Storify.
Further Information
Friedensdorf International is a medical care charity founded in Germany in 1967 and based in Oberhausen, North Rhine Westphalia. The charity provides urgent medical care for children injured through war and conflict around the world. There are currently 250 children being cared for at Friedensdorf (Peace Village) from eight different countries. The stay of each patient is based on clinical need but on average it is three months.