From the Luton Town programme

The following article appeared in the club’s official matchday programme for the game against Luton Town (played on February 21, 2015).

Fundraising update

Dons Trust Board chair Matt Breach has news on recent and planned fundraising activities.

A number of recent events have raised significant funds for the club. The one with the highest profile was the extremely entertaining Boys from the Back Room evening, when over a hundred fans joined Ashley Bayes, Stuart Douglas, Jason Moriarty and Simon Bassey – not to mention a few other surprise guests – for an evening of food, drink and many stories from behind the scenes at AFC Wimbledon.

Other recent events have included a silent auction and matchday raffles for a selection of prizes, including a signed picture of Bayo Akinfenwa scoring the winning goal in our JPT cup tie in Buckinghamshire. The Dons Trust Board would like to thank all the volunteers who helped to organise and run these activities. We could not run these events without them, and every penny raised helps the club.

Next up this season are two events planned for mid-April to help raise money for the Dons Trust, the AFC Wimbledon Foundation and other local charities.

The first of these is the annual Walk Further for Wimbledon sponsored walk. For this year’s walk, the eighth such event, our intrepid walkers will leave Wycombe Wanderers’ ground on Thursday 16 April and will walk the 50-odd miles from there, largely along the Thames Path, to arrive at The Cherry Red Records Stadium in time for the kick-off against Wycombe on Saturday 18 April.

Previous routes have covered much of the South-East. The very first incarnation followed a 45-mile route to Burgess Hill Town’s Leylands Park ground, completed in just 30 hours. Since that first walk, routes have included large sections of the London Orbital Path (walking to Barnet FC and Gillingham FC), the Grand Union Canal (from St Albans FC) and the Thames (from the Thames Barrier to Kingsmeadow), although lessons learnt from the first year have led to more relaxed scheduling, allowing two-and-a-half days to cover the 50 or so miles walked each year.

Last year, Walk Further for Wimbledon went “on tour” – the walkers hiked from the City of Manchester Stadium (where we regained our place in the Football League), via Bury, to Accrington Stanley (where the Dons lost). The logistics of running the event in Lancashire proved difficult, but a great time was had by all walking through the scenic Irwell valley.

This year the walk will end at The Cherry Red Records Stadium, and hopefully will be led over the last couple of miles by Haydon the Womble. So far ten fans have signed up to do the walk, but there is plenty of room for others on the path, so if you are interested in joining us for one, two or all three days then please email Matt Breach.

The second of the two April events is the AFC Wimbledon Minithon and Family Fun Day on Sunday 19 April.