August 2024 marked 20 years of Hazel’s Footprints Trust. It is, of course, rather bittersweet as two decades have now passed without Hazel. Naturally this month every year is cause for reflection on her life and what she would be doing if she was still with us. But as one of her favourite quotes says, “Give life to your days not days to your life” and so we remember her vivacious zest for doing exactly that, and making the absolute most out of her 21 years with us.
This, along with another one of her favourite quotes “If you shoot for the moon and miss, you’ll still be one of the stars”, have been carved and placed on a cairn built at the Scott Aitons’ home, Legerwood. It’s up on the hill overlooking the farm, surrounded by hazel trees planted in her memory. Thank you to the wonderful Scott, aka LoveStone, for his beautiful work.
But as well as the immense sadness felt by the absence of Hazel over the past two decades, we also reflect on the Trust and what has been achieved in her name.
We are immensely proud to say that, to date, we have granted £1.3 million through the Trust. We could not have done this without so many friends, family and all the supporters we’ve gained along the way. From those who attended the very first auction dinner held locally in Kelso, to the intrepid trekkers who joined Bill, Joan and Peter to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, or the many hundreds of joyful “Flingers” at one of our black tie balls in London and Kent, to those who spent a summers evening getting competitive playing in our rounders tournaments in Edinburgh and London. From bike riders to marathon runners, rotary clubs to local schools, and everyone else who so kindly sends a regular donation, has volunteered their time at an event or just supports us in any way, big or small we say a huge heartfelt THANK YOU.
Every penny donated has gone directly to the people, projects and partner schools we’ve funded over the past 20 years:
- Over £800,000 has gone to Educational Project Grants,
- Over £100,000 has gone to individual ‘Footprinter’ Volunteers
- Over £160,000 has gone to Otjikondo School, Namibia
- Over £170,000 has gone to Ngambenyi School, Kenya
The Trustees would also like to pay tribute to Balfour Thomson, our Chairman from 2004-2023. Balfour passed away very suddenly at the end of December 2023. Along with Bill and Joan, he has been at the forefront of Hazel’s Footprints Trust since its birth. For him not to be here to share in marking 20 years feels so unjust. His incredibly knowledgeable, kind and witty presence has been greatly missed over the past 8 months . We are forever indebted to Balfour for his devotion to the Trust.
More than ever, we are reflecting on one final quote that Hazel loved and the motto of Otjikondo School “The journey of a thousand miles begins with just a single step”. Thank you, once again, to those who gave us the courage to take those first steps 20 years ago and start the Trust. As we continue on this journey, we hope we’ve done Hazel proud.
