Old Town walk raises funds for Daisy Appeal

Picture shows Paul Schofield with the group of walkers outside Ceruttis in Hull.

THE sights of Hull’s Old Town – and a few of its secrets – came to life as supporters of the Daisy Appeal gave donations to join the charity on a walk with renowned tour guide Paul Schofield.

A group of around 20 set off from Queen Victoria Square and were led by Paul along main roads, side streets and snickets before wrapping up with lunch at Ceruttis, where they were one of the last group bookings before the closure of the legendary restaurant.

Tina Cerutti took part in the walk, took the restaurant diary and took about half a dozen reservations, including some for the Beverley restaurant which remains open.

Others had taken the day off work and enjoyed a morning of bright skies and enlightenment, with one or two confessing that they really hadn’t heard the story about the smallest window and very few aware of some of the paving features which indicate the locations of the Old Town walls and the levels of the Humber.

Vicky Heuck, a trustee of the Daisy Appeal, said: “We learned an awful lot of things that we didn’t know, even though we are all local people and some of us have lived here a very long time.

“In addition to raising awareness of the Old Town it has raised awareness of the Daisy Appeal. It’s very easy for people who are involved in the Appeal to think that everybody knows everything about it, so opportunities like this are very important.”

Stopping points along the tour included The Last Trip memorial in Zebedee’s Yard, with some walkers seeing the tribute and the location for the first time. Paul pointed out some of the striking features of the Guildhall and paused at the corner of High Street and Scale Lane to declare: “This is pub central!”

He reminded people to look up at plaques and frontages and to look down at the Fish Trail and he welcomed interjections from the group and from passers-by en route.

Someone on the deck of one of the boats in Hull Marina, on seeing a group predominantly of women, shouted: “We need someone who can sew us a new sail.”

One of the group had already enjoyed the walk so much she was already planning the next one: “Maybe we should do the ale trail next time?”

The Daisy Appeal was launched in 2002. Its first milestone was the opening in 2008 of a Research and Development Centre at Castle Hill. The Jack Brignall PET-CT Centre was opened in 2014. In addition, the charity purchased a table-top cyclotron and gave it to the University of Hull for research.

The current campaign has a target of £8.2 million to build and equip the new Molecular Imaging Research Centre, which is under construction at Castle Hill Hospital and due for completion in autumn this year. The centrepiece will be a second cyclotron which is medical practice compliant and will pave the way to the launch in 2020 of new procedures, possibly including scanning for Alzheimer’s and prostate cancer.

For further information on the work of the Daisy Appeal visit www.daisyappeal.org