Route and times: Southampton to Worthing leg of the #TeamHonkRelay, 18 & 19 Jan 2014

I’m pleased to announce the plans for the Southampton to Worthing leg of the Team Honk blogger relay for Sport Relief.

Please support #TeamSouthampton and DONATE NOW!

If you’d like to join us for any of the parts of the journey, you’re more than welcome to come along! I’ll tweet updates on the baton’s progress through the weekend (@TalesofaTwinMum). Lisa Congdon, Chair of Southampton Twins and Supertwins Club  has been incredible and she has helped create a fantastic route with me (some of which is twin-themed!)  So a huge thanks goes out to her and the members of her twins and supertwins club.

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the businesses that have agreed to get involved so far –  Quay Fifteen , Shamrock Quay Marina, The Bike Guys, Beauty Bay TJ Marine, B&Q Fareham,  Worn to be Wild, Whiteley Shopping Centre, Xpress Beauty, Montagu’s Cafe Bar & Bistro and Tooti’s Gelato Bar. They’re  all doing something fantastic for us, so take a look below for more details. Also, did you see the fabulous poem written especially for us by the Writers at Lovedean?

Anyway, we hope to see you at one of the stages!

Please support #TeamSouthampton and DONATE NOW!

(I’ve done my best to include as many names as possible in this post, but I don’t have the names of everyone involved yet. If you’re joining in and would like your names adding to the route below, please message me  to tell me what you’re doing karen.bleakley@yahoo.co.uk and I’ll add you to it. xx)

FRIDAY 17 JANUARY 2014

Annie aka Mammasaurus, will take the baton from Team Bournemouth and will bring it to Southampton for an evening of special Team Honk ice cream sundaes and cocktails! Anyone involved in the event is welcome to come along. Tooti’s Gelato Bar will be offering a new sundae in honour of Team Honk until the even finishes in March. Technically this isn’t part of the relay, but it’s a great excuse to get together with friends old and new. Times TBC (email me for details if you’d like to join us – the more the merrier! karen.bleakley@yahoo.co.uk)

SATURDAY 18 JANUARY 2014

Leg one: Quay Fifteen (a new restaurant opening on 13th February 2014, Shamrock Quay, Williams Street, Southampton SO14 5QL to outside The Range, Antelope Park, Bursledon Road, Southampton SO19 8NE

Start time: Meeting at 9am, baton leaving at 9.30am

Distance: 3.1 miles

Details: Rocky Moore (Owner of Quay Fifteen and member of Southampton Twins and Supertwins Club) will run with the baton along with his twin brothers Bash and Raz and Shamrock Quay Marina Manager, Jonathan Walcroft. The Bike Guys and Beauty Bay at Shamrock Quay will also be getting involved in the fun.

Leg two: Outside The Range, Antelope Park, Bursledon Road, Southampton SO19 8NE to Visitor’s Pontoon, Hamble le Rice

Start time: 10am

Distance: 4.4 miles

Details: A group of families from Southampton Twins and Supertwins Club will walk with the baton with the twins wearing animal masks and walking two by two! These include: Gabby O’Brien with twins Sophie and Isobel and baby Alice, Sophie Mackenzie with twins Jenson and Gracie, Emily Collings with her children Joseph and Reuben, Sonya Newell with her twins William and Ethan Harvey, Gemma Cooper with her twins Brooke and Hayden and her dad Alan Cooper ( who is kindly being taxi for the day!), Emma Bell Guillan with  her twins Amelia and Sophia, Helen Doyle with her husband Andy, daughter Bethany and twins Aiden and Grace, Shona Lewis with her husband Chris and twins  Noah and Joseph, Joyce Momah and her twins Christel and Ethel, Rebecca Lebbern and her 6yo Tamaiah and her twins Amalie and Isabelle, Tessa Lamb and her twins  Stefan & Rowan, and probably many more!  (If you’re coming along, please let me know and I can add you to my list!)

Lots of the lovely families from Southampton Twins Club have helped out with this event, co-ordinating club members, organising special t-shirts and sharing posts about it. I’m so pleased that so many of the members are hoping to come along to walk with the baton on Saturday. It really does show what a supportive network twin clubs are, as less than two weeks ago they had no idea this event even existed!

After a family walk, Gabby, Sophie and Emily will run with the baton to Hamble.

Leg three: Visitor’s Pontoon, Hamble le Rice to Warsash Pier SO31 9FT

Start time: 11.15am

Distance: 0.6 miles

Sally and Tim Rogers from TJ Marine, will use a RIB to get the baton across the water.

Leg four: Warsash Pier SO31 9FT to B&Q Fareham, 50-158 Southampton Road, Titchfield Fareham PO14 4PH

Start time: 11.45am

Distance: 2.7 miles (arriving at B&Q around 1pm )

Details: Lisa Congdon (Chair, Southampton Twins and Supertwins Club) and I will be walking with the baton with our twin boys. The twins will be wearing matching animal masks and walking two by two.

Volunteers needed: If you have twins, or any children at all, please come along to join us for this leg of the journey to support us. You can walk as much or as little of it as you wish!

SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT: The staff at B&Q Fareham will be dressed as children’s characters all weekend! Please drop in and take a look. (Thanks to Worn to be Wild for providing a discount for the fancy dress costumes).

The baton will be greeted by the staff at B&Q in their fancy dress, and it will stay at B&Q for half an hour for photographs and so we can thank the staff for getting involved.

Leg five: B&Q Fareham, 50-158 Southampton Road, Titchfield Fareham PO14 4PH to Whiteley Shopping, Whiteley Way, Fareham PO15 7PD

Start time: 1.30pm

Distance: 2.6 miles

Details: Lisa Congdon and I will whizz from B&Q to Whiteley in a sports car.

SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT: Whiteley Shopping will be helping us to raise money by running events such as face painting. Some of the children’s characters from B&Q earlier will be there to meet the shoppers and greet the baton when it arrives.

Businesses at Whiteley are getting involved too! Xpress Beauty at Whiteley will be offering red and white Sport Relief nails and mini mix and match Minx nails from Monday 13th – Sunday 19^th January. Montagu’s Bistro will be serving some special Team Honk cakes, so pop in for a treat.

The baton will stay at Whiteley for an hour for photographs and so we can thank the centre and the businesses for getting behind the event. Lisa and I will also be popping in for a Team Honk manicure at Xpress Beauty with the baton.

Leg six: Whiteley Shopping, Whiteley Way, Fareham PO15 7PD to Gosport Ferry, South Street Gosport PO12 1EP

Start time: 2.45pm

Distance: 9 miles

Lisa Congdon will drive the baton to Gosport Ferry dressed in fancy dress.

SUNDAY 19 JANUARY 2014

Leg seven: Gosport Ferry, South Street Gosport PO12 1EP to the steps outside Portsmouth Guildhall.

Start time: 8.30am

Distance: 1.2 miles

Details: Zella Compton, a local author, and I will take the baton on the ferry over to Portsmouth and walk to  Portsmouth Guildhall.

Leg eight: Steps outside Portsmouth Guildhall to Baffins Pond, Portsmouth

Start time: Setting off between 9 – 9.30am

Distance: 2.2 miles

Details: Dee Kirkby, a local author and Patron of Reading for Beacon View Primary Academy in Paulsgrove, will run with the baton, along with local runner John Diape, of Eastleigh Running Club, to Baffins Pond.

Leg nine: Baffins Pond, Portsmouth to just outside Chichester

Start time: Setting off between 9.30 – 10am

Details: John Diape will continue to run and will be joined by another local marathon runner, Jim Whitmarsh (also from Eastleigh Running Club), who will bring the Olympic torch along with him, and Richard Craddock. Jim, John and Richard will run with the baton towards Chichester, followed by Lisa and I in the car in fancy dress. Exact distances for each runner is TBC.

Leg ten: Chichester to Worthing

Details: After dropping the runners back at their cars, Lisa and I will drive the baton in to Worthing wearing fancy dress to hand over to Team Brighton.

Phew. I think that’s it!

Most of the people taking part in our leg of the route aren’t bloggers, but they’ve come together to support the Team Honk event and help to keep the baton moving for us. Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to take part. I’m looking forward to seeing you all over the weekend! Best of luck to everyone!

Please support #TeamSouthampton and DONATE NOW!

Sport Relief Information

The first ever Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games take place from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd March 2014. The public can join the fun and games by running, swimming or cycling their way to raising cash at over a thousand venues around the country, including the landmark events at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

As one of the biggest fundraising events, Sport Relief brings the entire nation together to get active raise cash and change lives. The money raised by the public is spent by Comic Relief to help transform the lives of some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people both at home in the UK and across the world.