Walkers return to Bognor to be greeted by Spiderman

The web-weavers from Bournemouth Carnival Band were invited to serve as a welcoming committee last weekend for fundraisers taking part in the Bay To Bognor Walk in aid of Meningitis UK.

Over the course of two weeks, they had completed the walk from Morecambe in Lancashire to Bognor, raising a total of 45,000.

Bognor fundraiser Ray Finch, who requested the colourful carnival band at the event's finale, had joined the walk for the last two days of the journey.

Having suffered the death of his son Martin in 1999 from Meningitis C, Ray and his wife Jackie have organised a range of events, raising more than 110,000 for their chosen cause. This has been achieved through setting up the Martin Finch Memorial fund.

Praising fundraisers on the 300-mile cross-country walk, Mr Finch said: "The main message we were trying to get across with the walk was that many parents are not aware the meningitis vaccines which they have for the C strain of the disease do not protect against the B strain '“ which now accounts for 90 per cent of cases.

"So we are raising money for a combined vaccination which is still a few years off. I've been proud to do these walks as I didn't want my son's story to be just one of a lost life."

He added: "This wasn't the first time I had done this kind of walk and decided to join them for the last couple of days, which were actually quite gruelling.

"But we were lucky with the weather and managed to get Bournemouth Carnival Band there dressed up as Spidermen for a bit of fun. They were there to welcome the walkers to the finish at the pier in Bognor."

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