HARP's HEART Walk
Heart Walk
*Details of future HEART Walks will be announced soon*
Because we like a good acronym we are launched Heritage and Archaeological Research Practice's Healthy, Educational, Archaeology Related Touring, or.... HARP's HEART Walk! in 2019.
This fundraising event will consisted of a long distance walk completed by members of the HARP team, and tied into existing projects and research areas that we are undertaking. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for HARP, to help us to deliver our incredible training opportunities and outreach events throughout the year. We also be donated 50% of all funds raised to the British Heart Foundation.
Physical activity can help to reduce the risk of heart and circulatory disease, whilst also helping you to maintain a healthy weight, and lower both blood pressure and cholesterol. Being active can also have a positive impact on your mental health, especially when the activity is undertaken outside in the fresh air. We believe that archaeology and cultural heritage can play an important role in encouraging people to get active in the outdoors, and help to provide an interesting distraction whilst doing exercise!
This 2019 walk was completed by Ian and Kieran, who walked the 79 mile Great Glen Way from Fort William to Inverness, between the 12th and 19th May. The walk tied into our Jacobites, Clearance and Scots project, with the route connecting the Highland Forts of Fort William, Fort Augustus, and Fort George, via General Wade's first military road in the Highlands built in response to the threat of Jacobitism.
During the walk, Ian and Kieran live-blogged and provided supporters with pictures, facts, and stories related to a number of archaeology and heritage sites they encountered along the way, to help inspire others to get out and about and engage with their local heritage. You can check out the blog posts and updates here. Our aim is to get more people involved in HARP's HEART Walk in the future, whether that be by taking part in our annual walk, or undertaking their own walk to discover more about the archaeology and heritage near them! Who knows, one year we might make it all the way to Derby à la the Bonnie Prince himself!
Why support us?
Our aim at HARP is to provide people with an opportunity to learn more about, and get involved with, heritage and archaeology. We provide regular training opportunities and outreach events designed for both those seeking a career in archaeology, as well as those who have an interest in the subject and want to pursue it as a hobby. We believe heritage matters, and actively work to inspire others to research, understand, and care for heritage, through the training activities and opportunities that we provide. Not everyone can afford to pursue a career in archaeology, and many others feel that they 'don't deserve' to take part in heritage activities. The opportunities that we provide are designed to help breakdown these barriers by providing training and outreach events through our projects, which are suitable for anyone to get involved in.
The majority of archaeology students need to complete a certain amount of fieldwork on field schools in order to complete their degree. Many of these field schools are an extra cost over and above the cost of their course fees, with field school costs often exceeding £1,000 per field school for each student. At HARP we endeavour to provide affordable field schools and training opportunities for those pursuing a career in archaeology.
The research and training projects that we provide are enabled by grant funding and/or participants fees. As a Social Enterprise we are a not-for-profit organisation, with any funds, donations, or 'profits' generated from commercial work reinvested into events and activities to provide training opportunities and outreach events for the public. Your support will be directly helping us to create more training opportunities and outreach events, and provide affordable, professional training for those pursuing a career in archaeology.
BHF
Why Should You Support the British Heart Foundation?
The British Heart Foundation fund over £100 million of research each year into all heart and circulatory diseases and the things that cause them.
Heart diseases. Stroke. Vascular dementia. Diabetes. They're all connected, and they're all under the British Heart Foundation's microscope. Research has given us machines that can restart hearts, the ability to fix arteries in tiny babies, the power to give someone a heart they weren’t born with, and so much more. But heart and circulatory diseases still kill 1 in 4 in the UK, they cause heartbreak on every street. And that’s why the Brith Heart Foundation's work is as urgent and vital as ever. The British Heart Foundation's research, is the promise to protect the people we love. Our parents. Our brothers. Our sisters. Our grandparents. Our closest friends. Research is who the British Heart Foundation are. The promise of future preventions, treatments and cures. People’s donations have got us this far. Every breakthrough the British Heart Foundation has made, funded by people like you.
How can You Support Us?
We will be accepting donations for the HARP HEART Walk as soon as the next event is finalised, and donations can be made in a number of ways, both traditional, and online.
We accept cheques made payable to Heritage and Archaeological Research Practice, which can be posted to us at either of our addresses. If you would like to send us a cheque please include a slip to let us know that you are supporting the HEART Walk, and who you are.
Online payments can be made directly into our bank account, with details available here. If you would like to support us with a payment into our bank account, please use GGW and your name as the payment reference so we know that you are supporting the HEART Walk, and who you are.
Cash and cheque donations can also be provided in person to either Ian or Kieran, but please do not send cash in the post.
What about fees we hear you ask? We guarantee that 50% of all gross donations made will be donated to the British Heart Foundation. HARP will absorb any fees levied by the payment processes. All donators will be thanked via our social media pages (unless you ask us not to), and we will be posting regular updates throughout the month of May both here and on our social media pages, where you will also get the live updates during the HEART Walk from Ian and Kieran!