Reading parishes’ Big Lent Walk along the Camino Ingles
On Saturday 8 March, more than 60 local people from Caversham, Tilehurst and Reading took part in CAFOD’s Big Lent Walk, walking the first stage of St James Way as part of the historic Camino Ingles (English Way).
The group set off at 10am from Our Lady and St. Anne’s, one of the shrine churches for the 2025 Jubilee year, where parish priest Father Joe led a Jubilee celebration and prayer. After an introductory talk about the Camino Ingles, a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain that dates to the Middle Ages, they then followed the first few miles of the Camino through Reading town centre towards St James’ and Reading Abbey.
The Big Lent Walk is a challenge where people walk 200km in 40 days as an individual or join up as a parish, community or school to do a joint event, as in Reading. The aim is to raise money for CAFOD’s Lent Appeal, supporting people like Lokho in Kenya.
Damian Porter, one of the organisers of the walk said:
“It was a special day for our Reading parish community, as we walked, sang, prayed and got our mini Camino stamps. This, together with the warm spring sunshine, and most of all the opportunity to fundraise to make the world a better and fairer place, we really did feel like Pilgrims of Hope. So proud of our community, so proud of our faith!”
The age range among the walkers spanned from three-month-old Sofia, carried by her mother, to an 81-year-old named Maria, who, as Damian describes, “blazed a trail with her walker and, most of all, with her beautiful smile.“
Ana, one of the walkers, said, “‘”For me this edition was special because we put together the Big Lent Walk and the Jubilee Pilgrim concept, extending it to other ancient and modern ways of ‘praying with our feet’.”
The group covered a combined distance of 650km and have already raised over £4,000 for the Big Lent Walk. Thank you to all those in Reading who got involved and raised so much!
If you’d still like to join the Big Lent Walk it’s not too late. Simply click below to sign-up!