Walking on Water
Way back in 2014, Newport Brownies – accompanied by a crowd of friends, families, and the Newport Church Sunday Club – held a sponsored walk across the Tay Bridge. They were hoping to raise enough money to buy what would be the very first rainwater harvesting tank for Uphill Junior School in western Uganda.
That walk was so successful that £1000 was raised, and the tank was paid for. It was also the starting point for our fully registered Scottish charity, The Uphill Trust, dedicated to continuing to support the school.
Newport Brownies have continued their support since that first walk, collecting money for games, sports equipment, craft supplies, and kindergarten classroom chairs. Most recently they have helped raise the funds to allow the forming of a Brownie and Junior Guide unit at the school; fully registered and enrolled with the GirlGuide Association of Uganda.
In celebration of this connection to Uphill Junior School and the Uphill Trust’s 10th anniversary, the current Newport Brownies decided to hold a second sponsored walk across the Tay Bridge on the evening of 10th June 2025. The girls’ enthusiasm for doing the trek was wonderful to see.
The Brownie Pack was joined by Newport Rainbows, the leaders, and around 20 family members for the latest walk across the bridge on a lovely sunny but breezy evening.
The group of around 55 set off at the Fife end of the bridge and in 28 minutes the fastest walkers, and the longest legs, had reached the Dundee side. That’s a good speed for 1.4 miles. Some of the smaller girls, including one who took a tumble and required emergency plasters applied to grazes on her hands, took a little while longer.
Everyone had a snack before tackling the return walk. Getting back to the Fife side took a while longer as the Tay Bridge is on a slope. So, appropriately, this was slightly more…uphill (ho, ho). Again the first aid kit came out for a grazed knee and hands. Ably supported by her Brownie chum, the wounded warrior made it back to the start to rejoin everyone else.
The highlight of the 2.8 miles completed by all was probably waving to the passing traffic, and getting loads of car horn honks in reply.
Parents reported the next day that their girls all slept very well that night. Some of the Rainbows who are between 5 and 7 years old had never walked that far before. Doing the crossing is huge achievement for them all.
As always, treasured badges were awarded to each girl for completing the challenge.
The fund-raising target for the walk was set initially at £750 – enough to pay for a replacement water tank for the Uphill Kindergarten. However, this total was exceeded even before anyone had taken a single step. The final total is a little over £2000 raised, a fabulous sum deserving a massive WELL DONE! to everyone involved.
The extra money raised will be going into the Uphill Trust’s kindergarten build appeal, and will certainly buy many bricks for the new kindergarten classroom walls.
It is so special to have children supporting other children, and the teamwork from the Brownies, the Rainbows, and their families is one of the best.
A huge Uphill THANK YOU to all involved.
A final thought: see you in 10 years?
Tags: Brownie Sponsored Walk, Newport Brownies, Sponsored Tay Bridge Walk, The Uphill Trust, Uphill Junior School
