19/06/2025
Pausing walks until September
(Next weeks walk will be the last until September on the Villalonga Via Verdi. Check the page for details)
The temperatures reaching “Scorchio” which marks the drawing to the end of this seasons walking sessions, I wanted to thank everyone that has participated in the walks and had a taste of our little family and hope they have benefited in some way from the experience.
Never underestimate the power of feeling like you belong somewhere and that is ever more topical with June being Pride month.
I am so very proud of the group that we have, and I thank everyone that has told me just how much they appreciate and enjoy the walks, what the walks mean to them and how much they value the time I invest in keeping the group going.
We are very lucky to have such a diverse group.
Most of us are immigrants in Spain and that in itself, can throw up a lot of challenges. Ones that other members in the group may have already experienced and can empathise with and often share their experiences and wisdom.
I know we have some people of colour attend and I do hope we reach out to other ethnic groups as well to make it more diverse.
Of the LGBTQ+ community we have the L and the G covered, maybe we have a B or 2 and we have parents of T, Q and non-binary children. It is important not just for LGBTQ+ people, but it gives others an opportunity to learn and ask questions about stuff they don’t understand and hear every day on the news and social media. Most people are happy to answer sensible questions to help others understand.
We have many nationalities, British, Dutch, Belgian, Irish, Spanish, American, Canadian, South African, Venezuelan, Brazilian, Finish, Latvian and even Hull. Forgive me if I have missed any countries out.
Being in a safe space, where you can improve your mental, physical and emotional health is so, very important and this is why I run the group.
I know few members have passed on (they stopped coming not that they died) for various reasons which is their choice and the doors are always open to people who value the group to come and say hola again.
Some people want longer and more challenging walks, which is great for them. Most other walking groups cater for 12km or more. We won’t.
8km is just fine for our demographic, sometimes 10km sometimes 6km and sometimes a bit more challenging. But I try to have all our walkers in mind when planning a walk.
Some people have decided donating 2 euros per walk, for my time is not for them, again rather disappointing, but that’s their decision. I am more than pleased to focus my efforts on people that value the time and effort I invest in the research, planning, promotion, leading, question fielding and fantastic “reels” with the best music ever that I create for the group, which is at least about double the time we actually spend walking each week.
Remember we are always looking for people to introduce us to new areas and lead new walks.
So have a wonderful July and August and see you when it cools down in September.
I am hoping to spend my Tuesdays trying to catch up on all the jobs that I need to do around the house to get ready for hosting volunteers from the UK for the animal rescue in October. Maybe a day at the beach or I may dust off my paddle board once in a while too.
I will be at the rescue in Tavernes de la Valldigna, Friday evenings if anyone wants to help, and if anyone wants to meet up and walk the dogs with me when I am not at work (either early morning or evenings) let me know.
Some of the group expressed an interest in lunch meets or day trips whilst the walks are not on, If anyone wants to do this I am happy to share the info on the group.
Have an awesome summer, may it be filled with love, light and laughter and please don’t melt.
Darren Currell
Main Honcho
Gandia & La Safor Walking Group
*NB; I was going to save this post until after the last walk, but i may be getting kicked off Gandia area connect today for being a misogynist rather than helped because I experienced a xenophobic, possibly homophobic, definately misogynistic police officer at the National Police station.
Quite ironic to happen the day after i wrote this text about equality and acceptance.
