Pete Dudley may already be a familiar face to some readers after he dyed his hair and beard (gaining the nickname “Pirate Pete”) and had them removed to raise funds for Rye Hospital’s current fundraising campaign to purchase a mobile Echo Machine.
Not one to rest on his fundraising laurels, at the beginning of September Pete started his fundraising page on Justgiving and set off to walk around the entire coastal route of the Isle of Wight starting at Ryde on Saturday 4 September. The weather was glorious except for one half day of rain and he regularly updated his Facebook page as he travelled. Only the tide stopped Pete for a couple of hours near Thornes and a recent landslide between Niton and Blackgang Chime.
Pete used various campsites as a base and enjoyed the hospitality of the Friends Hotel who kindly offered a night’s stay free of charge. Wherever he went people were extremely generous in their donations of money or free breakfasts and a lovely lady even gave him the rest of her change when he had to use the bus to stage each of his walking segments. Many local publicans also donated.
During his travels Pete met Sara Cass at Ryde and as she will be running a similar route in the near future, Pete returned her generosity by sponsoring her.
Pete’s Justgiving page will be open until September 30 for any further donations. Pete will also be helping out at the Centenary Open Day on Saturday September 25 between 10am and 12pm and 2pm to 4pm if you would like to donate in person.
Pete would like to thank all of the lovely people he met in the Isle of Wight and those closer to home who have supported him in this fundraising effort.
Image Credits: Rye Hospital .