Sporting stars show support for Shrewsbury school’s sponsored walk

Every five years the Shrewsbury School completes a whole school sponsored walk in order to raise money for The Shewsy, a youth club in Everton that the school has supported since it was founded in 1903.

This year the walk has received support from some famous faces such as current Liverpool player Harvey Elliott, former Liverpool FC and England player Robbie Fowler, WBC Cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew as well as Everton FC legends Graeme Sharp, Graham Stuart and Ian Snodin.

The whole school community is set to take on the 19-mile walk across the Shropshire Hills as part of a 50-year tradition where the pupils put down their books, go out and enjoy the beautiful local scenery and undertake the challenge of a long-distance walk, all while raising money for a good cause.

The funds raised from the sponsored walk will help to ensure that The Shewsy can maintain and enhance its youth work programmes at a time when there is greater demand than ever.

Head of partnership and community engagement at Shrewsbury School, Stuart Cowper said: “Our partnership with The Shewsy goes all the way back to 1903, when teachers from the school founded the club. Today our relationship is stronger than ever and we are committed to supporting The Shewsy, as in turn it supports its community which has one of the highest levels of child poverty in the UK.

“With our collective fundraising endeavour, we can help to ensure that The Shewsy thrives as an open-access, full-time centre running a range of programmes and activities. We can assist the excellent staff team to draw out the talent and potential of all the young people who attend the club, so that each and every one will discover a positive purpose and direction for their life.

“As with the last walk in 2016, and those that came before it, we hope to raise a significant total amount that will have impact over a number of years.”

The idea of the sponsored walk began in the summer of 1969, when 12 members of the school walked from Liverpool to Shrewsbury over two days to raise money for the rebuilding of The Shewsy.

The headmaster at the time, Donald Wright, adopted the idea and introduced it as a whole school event later that year.

Since then, there have been 10 whole-school sponsored walks and over the years, the route for the walk has varied in location, until 2000 when director of activities Nick David joined the school and the Long Mynd became the go-to spot for the trek.

To view the sports stars’ messages or to donate, visit shrewsbury.org.uk/sponsoredwalk2021