The stripes are back!

Yesterday (22 March) saw the return of our CSR partner, the National Literacy Trust's Where's Wally? Fun Run.

Flying the flag for Kumon was Elaine Plumb, Instructor at the Kumon Colchester North Study Centre, who walked 10 km for the charity in less than two hours, joining over 300 Wallys in Victoria Park, London.

Accompanied by fellow 'Wally', Linda Benson, Elaine said: "There was a great buzz when we arrived as the sea of people transformed to Wallys and started recording their memories. Before we knew it this sea of red and white waved up and down as the warm-up got under way, and then we were off.



Having started mid-crowd, with runners pounding ahead and a fair crowd still behind, we thought we were doing well; shortly after we started the second lap the number behind us dwindled and we were left alone. Clearly the runners had finished quickly ... but other walkers had dropped off after the shorter 5 km option!

Being amongst so many other Wallys was surreal, but spectators obviously realised what was going on initially, slightly more disconcerting was the later part of the day, when late risers arriving at the park gave us some strange looks as we marched past; they clearly thought we were just a couple of Wallys! We carried on the theme on the way home via foot and tube, using our collection pot to fine anyone who dared laugh!

With these contributions and some further donations we would like to express our heart-felt gratitude to everyone who helped us raise in excess of �660; over �400 in personal donations and �250 from The Jubilee Rotary Club of Clacton. I will be wearing my costume in class this week and hope to receive further donations from students and parents of the Kumon Colchester North Study Centre.



We may have rounded up the event and been last to finish, but we were proud to have walked at over three miles an hour, completing the 6.25 miles in 1 hour 50 minutes. We had a great day out and are delighted to have raised so much money and to have helped the National Literacy Trust with their work helping raise literacy standards in deprived areas.

A big thank you to Linda for being loopy enough to join me (I'm sure one loose Wally would have caused even more concern) and helping raise such an impressive amount."

Well done to Elaine for raising such a fantastic amount. There is still time to sponsor Elaine and Linda for their efforts yesterday, just follow this link to her JustGiving page.