The firewalk has been postponed and a new date will be planned for the New Year.
A REFUGEE charity is going the extra step to help others – by tackling The Great Saddleworth Firewalk.
CRIBS International, run by founder Sally Hyman from Springhead and a team of trustees and volunteers, supports refugee women with newborn babies in Athens, Greece.
They are inviting supporters and friends to join them for The Great Saddleworth Firewalk Challenge on Saturday, November 26 from 6.30pm to raise vital funds for the Mossley-based charity.
Participants who choose to tackle the challenge will get training from firewalk experts Time4Change before walking over red-hot embers barefoot.
Anyone aged 16 or over and able to walk unaided for a few steps at a regular pace is able to join in the event, at Saddleworth Rangers Rugby Club in Greenfield. There will also be a legowalk challenge for kids.
Tickets cost £35 per person or take advantage of the group offers of £125 for four people or if there is a group of 10 or more people, the cost is £25 each.
Sophie Heywood, from Lydgate, who is organising the event, said: “We have some wonderful volunteers and supporters in Saddleworth, Oldham and Tameside and we wanted to put on something unique to raise funds while getting together in our community.
“We’re asking those who sign up to raise extra money by getting sponsored, but given the current financial challenges for many of us, we aren’t putting a minimum amount on that.
“Spectators are welcome too, with a small donation requested on entry, so your friends and family can come and watch you braving the embers!
“Cliff, who will be running the firewalk, has a motto – ‘Life begins when your comfort zone ends’. So for anyone looking to get out of their comfort zone and do something amazing for charity, this one is for you!
“We even have a Lego Walk Challenge on for the little ones and there’ll be food, music and the Rangers bar.”
The venue has been provided free of charge by Saddleworth Rangers, and the event is sponsored by Well-i-hole Farm Shop, Soot Destroyer chimney sweep, and S. Eaton fuels.
Tameside actress Julie Hesmonhalgh, a long-term supporter of CRIBS, recently joined the team in Athens to lend a helping hand and raise awareness of the dire situation for refugees there, along with journalist Laura Connor from The Sunday Mirror.
Many refugees, who have often fled conflict, are left in desperate situations to survive with little to no support from the authorities, even those heavily pregnant and those with newborn babies.
CRIBS steps in as much as they can to help, providing a home and support for women who have previously had to eat out of bins while pregnant, women living with their newborns in parks, or unable to leave hospital after giving birth because they have nowhere to go. Some have even been forced into sex work simply to survive.
But with a shoestring budget CRIBS can only do so much and have to turn down many women asking for their help as the charity only has space to support 15 families.
Rachel, who has been part of the CRIBS fundraising team for four years, said after her first visit to Athens: “I left with very mixed emotions – while incredibly proud of the support and community that CRIBS provides, it is hard not to see the huge demand that we simply can’t afford to meet.
“Seeing how resilient and determined our supported families are made it more difficult to reply to the desperate messages we receive each week asking for help.”
• People can support CRIBS by texting FAMILIES followed by your donation amount to 70490 or visit the website to donate online and for more information: cribsinternational.org
• To buy tickets for the firewalk, or for more information visit ticketlab.co.uk/events/cribsinternational or email info@cribsinternational.org.
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