Tuesday April 9th

It's really great to announce that the total funds raised for HFSG and HJC have reached, and indeed surpassed the thirteen thousand mark. This is a testament to the efforts, not only of those who have worked closely on the event, of those across the country and indeed the world who have been incredibly supportive. There have been fantastic contributions and support for Liverpool supporters in the USA, Canada, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

The completion of the current round of auctions will largely bring the Reds' Rose Walk to a close. Today, we received a winning bid of £62 for the signed Elche CF shirt from Spain. We still have active auctions for Manchester City and Rotherham United signed shirts. We have today received a signed Nottingham Forest shirt so that auction will soon be initiated. That will hopefully be followed by auctions for a signed Celtic shirt and a signed Everton football. Details of all the auctions can be found here.

Are you part of a 5-a-side team? Why not compete for the HJC Cup? This is a tournament taking place in Crosby on May 18. More details on the event and how to enter can be found here. There will be a Reds' Rose Walkers team there.

As we are drawing the event to a close, we invite people to fill in our guestbook before we close it. What have you made of all that has been done and what are your memories, especially if you were there at the end for the emotional finale. The guestbook can be found here.

Justice for the 96!!!

____________________

Sunday April 7th

Closing in on the £13000 mark though if the promised Celtic and Nottingham Forest shirts don't arrive, it may just be that we fall short. We have finally had a bid for the Rotherham shirt after re-listing it again. The Chelsea shirt sold for £80 and the Manchester City shirt has already exceeded that. We have to hope that this pushes into three figures at the very least. It is the shirt for the current league champions after all.

The only shirt that has yet to command a bid is the Elche CF shirt. Great efforts have been taken on two fronts here. The Elche Facebook pages have taken a hammer with links to this eBay item. The responses being in Spanish, we have had to rely on the support of Francisco Lopez (@Franer6n) to translate for us. Fran and Steve Birkett (@birko1972), who first obtained the shirt for us, have also been plugging this for us in Spain.

The next item to be auctioned will be a signed Everton football. Expect to see that launched on eBay in the next few days. Links to all active auction items can be found here

Last word today for the reality of what the whole Reds' Rose Walk was all about. Next week it is 24 years since the 1989 FA Cup Semi Final at Hillsborough. The 96 were remembered today at Anfield. They will never be forgotten.

 

____________________

Friday April 5th

Three more shirts have been sold today and we are close to raising £1400 on the shirts and there's still a few to go. Check out what's still available here

Thought is would be nice to share this picture as it just sums up the multitude of feelings on the completing of the walk in December. It shows the Reds' Rose Walk's very own Richard Fitzgerald, 36 hours without sleep, proud and exhausted, with his little brother Joe, one of the Blues in the family. That's what it was all about. Liverpool and Everton, side by side, united in their search for Justice for the 96.

 

____________________

Thursday April 4th

The shirt auction is progressing very well. We have sold 9 shirts so far. This has raised £1091.56. The biggest contribution to that was the £580 received for the Liverpool shirt from probably the biggest supporter this event has seen, Owen from Houston, Texas.

With 8 further piece of signed memorabilia in active auction at the moment, there is a minimum of £276.92 due to come in.

Today we launched the auction for the signed Manchester City shirt, the shirt of the champions. We have high hopes that that may bring in a good total. Still waiting for delivery of shirts from two further sources.

Today, the runners began their 96 mile run from Hillsborough to Anfield. The Reds' Rose Walkers wish them the best of luck in there endeavours. Find out more here

                

____________________

Saturday March 30th

First five shirts sold now raising £296.64 in total. The Rotherham shirt didn't sell. We will re-list this in a week or so.

Two new shirts listed today. The Elche CF shirt is now available for bidding. This is something of a unique opportunity. In Spain they don't really go for signed shirts in the way we do in the UK. Steve Birkett (@birko1972) and Francisco Lopez (@Franer6n) arranged with the club's photographer Mark Welton to have a club shirt signed by the players. This season, Elche have succeeded in gaining promotion to La Liga for next season so this will be a real collectors item.

In addition, we have launched an auction for a signed Chelsea shirt, circa 2006. This listed at £40 and is already double that.

Details of all shirts available can be found here

 

 

____________________

Friday March 29th

The first three shirts have been sold. Leeds, Crewe and Sheffield Wednesday shirts have brought in £216.16 between them.

We have also launched three more shirts to be bid for. This includes a Liverpool shirt signed John Aldridge.

Details of all the shirts here

 

____________________

Thursday March 28th

First things first, lets have a plug for our runners. Earle Jackson, who joined us on the walk, is reuniting next week with his more energetic pals for a 96 mile run from Hillsborough to Anfield. That's a lot of hard yards. They really need, and deserve, the support of all Reds. You can get the full run down on their supreme efforts here

Well our signed shirt auction is up and running and as of tonight, the shirts are looking to bring in over £800 so far. Half of that is down to the signed #LFC which is up at £390.96 so far. The Leeds and Oldham shirts re around the £100 mark and we are also auction Crawley Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Crewe, Rotherham, Bury and Sunderland shirts too. The tenth is the iconic Bolton Wanderers shirt left for us by Sammy Lee and handed over by top man @TonyZicoKelly. It has 96 and JFT on the back. That will surely bring in some good money for #HFSG and #HJC.

We have more shirts to auction shortly too. There are signed shirts from Celtic, Manchester City, Chesterfield, Elche CF (Spain - in their promotion season), Wales (matchworn by Rob Earnshaw), another Leeds shirt, Nottingham Forest and well as a Liverpool shirt signed by Aldo (see below).

All the links and info on the shirts can be found here

 

____________________

Friday March 22nd

We have intentionally left it a while since the walk before we kick-off the next stage of this event. Through the build up and the weeks following the walk in December 2012, we were collecting signed football shirts with the intention of auctioning them to raise more money for the HFSG and the HJC. The plan is to start this auctioning process in the next few days. We have been waiting for one or two shirts to arrive and new we believe we have all that we are going to get.

We will provide all the links needed on our Auction page here so keep an eye out. We have some fantastic shirts. Oldham fans will want the shirt presented to the walkers on the day they unceremoniously knocked us out of the FA Cup. There is the Bolton Wanderers signed shirt, provided by Sammy Lee himself with JFT and 96 on the back. Then of course there is a signed Liverpool shirt. And there are many more....

STOP PRESS - The Auction has started and more shirts will be available at regular intervals 

 

____________________

Friday January 18th

COLLECTION OF SPONSOR MONEY - We are looking to collect and bank all sponsor monies by the end of January. If you have been collecting funds for the Reds' Rose Walk, please look to get them sent to the address on the form by January 31st. Don't forget to send the completed forms in with your sponsor money.

SHIRTS AUCTION - We are still awaiting delivery of the last couple of shirts after which we will start the auctions for our signed shirts.

PRIZE DRAW - We do have some prizes to draw for the sponsors. Find details here. The intention is to draw the prizes on the day of the West Bromwich game

GEORGE'S TRIBUTE - Check out George Sephton's tribute to the 96 on You Tube here

____________________

Tuesday January 1st

HAPPY NEW YEAR - The Reds' Rose Walkers would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. Lets hope that 2013 brings good fortune to Liverpool Football Club on the field. Importantly though lets hope that once and for all it brings the Justice that the families of the ninety six have been fighting for, for so long now. And a knighthood for Kenny Dalglish if the powers that be are prepared to give him the credit he so richly deserves.  

GALLERY - We are starting to add some pictures of the event into our gallery. These will be added at regular intervals. The full set of all the best pictures will be viewable via our DVD which we are hoping will be available in the next few weeks. You can view the gallery here

SPONSORSHIP - We are still collecting in money from the many people who took sponsor forms. In addition, there are a number of signed shirts that we plan to auction. We are currently working on the best way to do this. That said, the first of our shirts has already been auctioned. Thanks to Steve Luckin, a Brighton supporter, the shirt donated by the Seagulls was put up for auction just before Christmas and fetched £75

____________________

Sunday December 16th

SHOUT-OUT FOR AN AMAZING 13 STRONG TEAM

Bev Ashwell, Beth O'Shaughnessy, Richard Fitzgerald, John Coleman,

Gary Paterson, Stuart Wilson, Bobbie Goulding, Laura Woodcock,

Liam Cooch, Bobbie Gouding Jnr, Neil Grace,

Cherie Brewster, Mike Wilson

 

BIG THANKS TO THOSE WHO PLAYED A BIG ROLE ON THE DAY

Mark Ashwell, Hugh Hendrickson and Michelle and Brian, Glen Moore and Ben, Paul Hardaker,

Josh Wilson, Katie Wilson, Dale Cooch, Jordan Cooch, Jay Cooch, Ian Denham, Carl Ashton,

Neil Mellor, Tony Kelly, Tracy Wright, Rick Attwood, Margaret Aspinall, Sue Roberts, Earle Johnson

 

THANKS ALSO TO - those guys with names too numerous to mention (at risk of forgetting key people) who met the walkers at Showcase Cinemas, Goodison Park or Anfield.

 

GEORGE SEPHTON - Reads 'The Worst days of Our Lives' here

 

KEY MEDIA LINKS FROM THE WALK

LFCTV               Sunday Mirror               ITV

____________________

Thursday December 13th

!!! ONE DAY TO GO !!!

FIVE FIGURES - As you can see from above, through the generosity of so many people around the world, we have topped five figures. And thankfully it doesnt seem like stopping.

INJURY RULES BRADLEY OUT - After a knock in training a few weeks ago, we have lost one of our team today. Bradley had to take the decision today to drop out. It was a difficult decision as he was as keen as anyone to take part. We all wish him a swift recovery.

JUSTICE COLLECTIVE - "He Ain't Heavy" - lets face it it was a great song first time round. The version by the Justice Collective is out to buy on Monday and is also a great song. You know what its for. Lets make sure that it leaps straight to Number 1. #J4T96

NEW TEAM MEMBER - Liam Cooch is now part of the team doing the full run. Liam is from a whole family of Reds and has been a big contributor so far.

SHOUT-OUT - Anthony Dwyer - Story is that Steve Kelly is a blue who lost his brother Mike, a Red, at Hillsborough. Steve asked Cherie to lay an Everton scarf at Hillsborough in his family's name. Cherie didnt have a blue sacrf lying around and went in search of one. Anthony, a Liverpudlian and loyal Evertonian of 34 years was very happy to help out and has provided her with an Everton scarf. Thanks Anthony.

SHOUT-OUT - Richard Lyness - Pharmacist at Pharmacy World, Redhill Road, Stockton on Tees, for all his help and donation of dressings, plasters and other First Aid equipment. Richard spent some time living and working in Liverpool and didn't hesitate to assist us and make a personal donation to the funds too.

SHOUT-OUT - Oldham Athletic FC - On hearing that we are not only passing Boundary Park but planning a meal break there, they are looking to open up part of the ground so we can sit down to eat our dinner.

MEDIA - Interest in the walk has hotted up in the last few days. If that leads to more funds raised for HFSG and HJC then thats absolutely fantastic. The Sunday Mirror are keen to cover the start and the end. Radio Sheffield will be doing an interview with us in the morning before the start and Radio Merseyside are ringing Cherie for a live interview just ten minutes after she finishes her first six-miler. Its great to get such interest from the media and our biggest hope is that this is sufficient to persuade many more people to donate to the two very worthwhile causes.

MATCHWORN SIGNED WALES SHIRT - All the way from

LFC LEGEND - When we arrive at Anfield we will present the 'Remembering the 96' Everton shirt to Liverpool and they will present us with a signed shirt to auction. We have been told that a Red legend will be part of this presentation. Its since been confirmed that this will be the one and only Ian Callaghan 

____________________

Tuesday December 11th

HUGH AND HIS DRIVERS - Special feature on Hugh Hendrickson and his team who have given their time to be part of this. They are providing an driving the minibus that will give the walkers a comfortable base to support them throughout. More on Hugh's story here

COCA COLA - We received a parcel of soft drinks today from Coca Cola. They have provided water and Powerade to keep the walkers suitably hydrated.

DVD - We are planning to make a DVD of the whole event. We have our own professional photographer (Neil Grace @ImpressionsArtU). This will involve a slide show of photos interspersed with small movies. This will be professionally copied and available at £3-£4. Let us know if you would be intersted in buying one by mailing is here

MORE COMPANY SPONSORS - Brewpack have now sent us their £96 spoonsorship and today City Electrical agreed to do the same

____________________

Sunday December 9th

REDS' ROSE WALK BROCHURE - Download your copy of the Brochure for the walk here. It has all the info on the routes, those who have sponsored the walk, the walkers, the support team, the Everton tribute and so much more

OWEN'S TOP 10 - Our Scouser abroad gives us his latest blog, a view on the 'hit parade' when the walkers first saw Red - download it here

OUR TRIBUTE - More on the tribute we intend to make at the memorial at Hillsborough. This is what the team will read out before the walk starts. Read here

MORE SIGNED SHIRTS - We have received more signed shiirts in the last couple of days. Shirts have come in from Leeds United, Rotherham United and Crawley Town. The Elche shirt that Steve and Fran secured for us in Spain has finally arrived too. Check them all out on our gallery here

GOT YOUR T-SHIRT YET? - Have you bought your t-shirt yet? Its a great souvenir and you make a small donation in doing so. @Soccerprint exports all over the world as demonstrated below with Jon Tasker (@jontask) who is proudly wearing his having had it shipped over to Vancouver in Canada.

 

____________________

Saturday December 8th

PAYING OUR RESPECTS - The start of the walk at the memorial to the 96 at Hillsborough will be a very emotional time. Before the start of the event the plan is for the walkers to gather at the memorial to pay our respects. We will do this by reading out the names of those members of the #LFCfamily that we lost 23 years ago. each walker will read out 8 names until all 96 have been spoken. Then we will all lay scarves at the memorial. Representatives of Sheffield Wednesday will be there and will lay Wednesdy scarves. We will also lay an Everton scarf at the request of one of the relatives.

Cards like the one below have been created by Carl and will be used for this event. The plan will then be to attach these to each bunch of roses we lay at the memorial at Anfield. Its important that we start the event thinking of the 96 as this is our key motivation for doing this. 

 

____________________

Friday December 7th

MATCHWORN WALES SHIRT - One of our more ardent supporters from abroad, Jon Tasker (@jontask), has agreed to donate a coverted souvenir of a Wales v Canada match. Its a matchworn signed Robert Earnshaw shirt. When asked is he was sure, Jon said, "Well its not like I wear it round the house!". Jon is also the first person outside the UK to order one of our Reds' Rose Walk t-shirts. You can follow in his fottsteps and order yours from Soccerprint

NORWEGIAN WOOD FLORISTS - One of the key elements of the Reds' Rose Walk is the laying of 96 roses at the Hillsborough Memorial at Anfield at the end of the walk. We are grateful to Paul and Linda from Norwegian Wood Florists of Queens Drive. There is a core team of 12 walkers who will be with the walk all through the journey. Paul and Linda are providing 12 bunches of 8 roses so each walker can lay their own bunch at the culmination of the journey.

ROTHERHAM SHIRT - Our very own graphical whizz Carl Ashton (LFCflags) has managed to get hold of a signed Rotherham shirt through his mate Ian Sharps. Check out this and many of the other signed shirst we have received in our ever-growing gallery here

TWITTER DAY - There will be 5 days to go on Sunday. There are always more #LFC fans online on Twitter on match days and was we go to West Ham tomorrow we are looking to try and use this to underpin another push to raise visibility of what we are trying to do and hopefully raise more funds for the families of the 96. If you are on Twitter on Sunday, please retweet anything with a hashtag of #RedsRoseWalk. All support is greatly appreciated.

ECHO - Its the weekend before the walk and James Pearce has written about it in today's Echo. Good to see a nice focus on the banner and the presentation to Everton. Read more here

____________________

Wednesday December 5th

PLEASE SUPPORT US - There are just over 8 days to go before we start the walk. We are starting to see your donations come in and we are really grateful for this. If you are yet to come forward in support of this, we should reiterate that everything you donate will go to the families of the 96 via the Hillsborough Family Support Group and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. Please show your support for these worthy organisations using either of the links above.

CHERIE'S WEATHER REPORT - Conditions on Friday 14 should be mainly dry, bright but cold through the day with some rain through the night. Snow is forecast for Saturday. Min temp - 8  Max Temp 0. Windchill factor will make it feel much colder especially on the high ground over the Pennines and any exposed places en route. This is going to be a real challenge, make no mistake about this. But the walkers will be prepared for this challenge.

FINAL ARRANGEMENTS - The logistical plan for the event is coming together now. There has been a lot to plan but now we are getting close to the event, its important that all the finer details are in place. We have had lots of help with this from Glen at Scoff for providing our refreshments, Paul and Linda who are florists providing the 96 Roses and Hugh, another massive Red, who is providing our transport and drivers. So many people are behind us in our endeavours that its genuinely humbling. Of course it is all understandable because so many people want to help the families of the 96 get the Justice they deserve for their loved ones.

MORE SIGNED SHIRTS - We have again been promised more signed shirts. Carl has a friend at Rotherham who is arranging to get a shirt signed for us. Laura has been in contact with Chesterfield. The fact that their manager is from Liverpool has meant that they are only too keen to help out and this shirt will be on its way next week.

____________________

Tuesday December 4th

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY - All lined up for the start of the event in 10 days time. The walkers will pay their respects at the memorial before laying scarfs there. Trevor Braithwait, Director of Communications at SWFC will be joining us and will hand over the Wednesday signed shirt before laying an Owls scarf alongside our red ones. Trevor has agreed to put a story in the Wednesday programme after the event. It may get more interest if it contains pictures that include old boy Neil Mellor

MEDIA CAMPAIGN - Today we contacted much of the local media that has reported us before plus the local TV stations. Hopefully we can get some much needed further publicity to help us raise more money.

BRIGHTON - They are launching a Facebook campaig on our behalf in the next few days.

SIR KENNY - Sir Kenny met Josh and Chloe Spencer last night. See the pictures here

BURY - We received a signed Bury shirt to add to our collection for auction.

____________________

Sunday December 2nd

LAURA'S BLOG - One of our team of walkers, Laura, has added the walk to her blog. Check it out here

ROUTE PLANNING - On the day of the Anzhi match, the first part of the route was mapped so that the logistics could be planned - handover points, key landmarks etc. Today the final part of the dry run took place. This now means that the Brochure can be completed. The aim is to have this available for download on this website by December 8th. This will contain full maps of each stage and information on all key sponsors.

SIGNED SHIRTS, CAN YOU HELP? - Signed Bury shirt received yesterday via Katie. Thank Katie. Hopefully Crawley Town shirt coming too, possibly Swansea as well. These are all going to be auctioned after the walk. Its a simple way to build up extra funds for the two family organisations. Do you know someone who with links to a club who can help us add to our collection? If so, please mail Mike here

          

____________________

Thursday November 29th

IMPORTANT NOTE - If you have taken a £96 for the 96 Sponsor Form, as the walk is fast approaching, it would be great if we can bank any money that has come in. Please contact Cherie via the links on the form

LIVERPOOL ONE - Cherie and Sian paid a visit to both the Liverpool and the Everton Club shops. Both shops were very keen to take sponsor forms and try to help raise funds for the 96.

CREWE ALEX - Today we received a signed Crewe shirt, courtesy of Martin Brownlow. The shirt was signed by the team thanks to Martin's son-in-law, centre half Mark Ellis, whose name and number is on the back. You can see all shirts that we have received so far in our gallery here. We have been promised others to auction from Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Celtic, Brighton, Bolton, and Sheffield Wednesday as well as Liverpool.

     

____________________

Wednesday November 28th

BRIGHTON - The Seagulls have included us in their programme for todays game where they beat Bristol City 2-0. The same article is on their website here

EMPIRE OF THE KOP - More coverage via the Empire of the Kop website. Read it here.

REDS' ROSE WALK T-SHIRTS - Our t-shirts are still selling. Today we find that Jon Tasker in Canada (@jontask) has proudly received his. You can get yours at Soccerprint

RADIO CITY - Cherie met John Keith at City today and recorded a programme with John and Brian Nash, of Frankie Goes to hollywood fame. The programme will air in about 10 days time.

FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS FEDERATION - Support coming from a many quarters including the Football Supporters Federation. We have had a mention on their Facebook page here and they have been Tweeting in support too (@The_FSF). Dont forget we have our own Facebook group too - find us here

WELL RED MAGAZINE - News of our walk appeared in Well Red magazine this week

____________________

Monday November 26th

SCOUSER ABROAD - "Our Owen's" has penned his latest missive. This time its a touching story of growing up supporting the Reds and the bond between father and son. It includes some amazing great illustrations. For that reason we have loaded it up in its original form. This is a great read. Download it here

HUGH'S RED ARMY - We are currently finalising the logistics plan. There's plenty to do and we are grateful for help provided by so many. Hugh Hendrickson of Liver Executive Tours is providing a minibus to act as a support vehicle for the walkers. The length of the journey, approx 30 hours, means that three drivers are needed. We are grateful for the fact that that all these drivers have agreed to provide their services totally free of charge. Their support will last from 4am on the Friday morning right through to arriving at Anfield.

LATEST FROM THE SEAGULLS - We have mentioned already how helpful Brighton have been. They have now confirmed most of what they are going to do for us

1. Auction a signed shirt and send us the proceeds
2. Contact the Football League to raise awareness of the walk, hopefully with all clubs (done earlier this week)
3. Start support campaigns through their Twitter and Facebook pages (due tomorrow)
4. They are putting a double page article in their programme this week for the Bristol City gae
5. They are talking to their supporters clubs to try to get full support from them
6. They are looking into having a pitchside collection for the Reds Rose Walk at their home match on December 15th which just happens to be against Nottingham Forest

Respect to the Seagulls

____________________

Saturday November 24th

£5000 TOPPED - We have reached a landmark. We estimate that we have no passed the £5000 mark with 3 weeks to go. In truth our fundraising will continue for a period after the event and our target is still to try to raise £15000 or more.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE CONTACTED - Our friends at Brighton and Hove Albion have been very suopportive of this event ans are preparing a double page article for their match programme. This week, they contacted the Football League on behalf of the Reds' Rose Walk. Hopefully they can drum up further support for our event.

SUNDERLAND - This week the Black Cats sent us through our first signed shirt. You can now take a look at the signed shirts as they come in in our new Shirt gallery here 

ELCHE CF - The Spanish don't normally get the English trdition for the prestige of owning a signed shirt. Until this week. Steve Birkett (@Birko1972) took it upon himself to try to get a local club, Elche CF, to provide a signed shirt for the Reds' Rose Walk. With his friends Fran (@franer6n) and Mark (@markwelton), they have managed to get the players of Elche to sign a shirt for us. Well done guys, much appreciated!!

 

____________________

Monday November 19th

JMU JOURNALIST - We were recently contacted by Joel Richards, a journalism student at John Moores University looking to run a story on the event. The story was launched today. You can read the story here

TWITTER DAY - Yesterday we had a Twitter Day where we tried to raise the profile of the event. So far it hasn't brought a great rise in funds raised. However there is no doubt that more people were exposed to news of the walk. The most prestigeous retweet came from our own Daniel Agger

MIDDLESBROUGH - Cherie attended the Middlesbrough FC Supporters Club meeting today. Sir Kenny was there too and was pictured with Boro fans Warren and Macauley Craig. View the picture here.

Also present was defender Rhys Williams, pictured below with Cherie. The Boro fans were very supportive and are looking to see how they can support us moving forward

____________________

Friday November 16th

4 WEEKS TO GO - The walk starts in 4 weeks. Good progress has been made in getting our Sponsor forms out there but the real challenge is getting them filled in and returned. The next week or so needs to see us make good progress there if we are to make anywhere near our target of exceeding £15000. If you have one of our forms, please try and get the money back in as sson as possible

GENEROUS RED - Our coffers increased significantly this week with a generous donation of £10 per mile from Andy Flockton (@flockton1), a Grimsby based Red. Thanks Andy

CITY FM - Cherie has been invited onto Radio City by John Keith in 10 days time. The show airs the following weekend and will be replayed 3-4 times.

BRIGHTON - It has to be said that we have had some fantastic support from many other clubs out there. Brighton and Hove Albion are one worth picking out. On top of the signed shirt they are auctioning for us, they are helping us with lots of publicity including potentially contacting the Football League on our behalf to raise the profile of the walk.

ELCHE CF - This weekend, Steve Birkett (@Birko1972), along with his mate Fran (@franer6n), are heading out to watch Elche CF play. They will meet up with the official Elche CF photographer in an attempt to enlist his help to get a signed shirt. Good luck lads

 

____________________

Saturday November 10th

BOOTLE BOY - Another great collection of insights from our Stateside Scouser - always worth a read. Find it here

£96 FOR THE 96 - Making steady progress on this fundraising activity. Almost 96 of these forms are out now and we will hopefully start to see them coming back in soon fully completed. We have been attempting to do the same with Supporters clubs round the country. Great progress this week as we have now got 36 of these allocated, many through the Merseyside Supporters Branch who took a good number of these at their branch meeting this week. If you want to get involved in fund raising through this method. please contact Cherie here

SUPPORT FROM OTHER TEAMS - Lots of other clubs are getting on board now with offers of help. these include

• Manchester City - signed shirt
• Bury - signed ball
• Everton - signed ball (on top of the signed Remembering the 96 shirt)
• Crewe - arranged through Mark Ellis, their centre half
• Swansea - Looking to help when three of the walkers make the trip to Southwales for the league game later this month
• Brighton - big offer of help here though nature has yet to be confirmed - if it all comes off its huge
• Celtic - in the week of their fantastic victory over Barcelona, the Celtic team will be signing a shirt to be sent to us

____________________

Sunday November 4th

NO EXCUSES, HELP ANNE WILLIAMS -  If you read this and you haven't already signed the petition, come on what's stopping you. This devoted lady waits 23 years for some semblance of justice and just as it approaches, she becomes seriously ill. This petition is designed to bring the inquest for her son Kevin forward. It costs nothing to sign and you can do it here

COMPETITION - Our official walk photographer Neil is staging a competition through this week via Twitter. Tweet Neil (Twitter name - @ImpressionsArtU) and tell him who your all time fave LFC player is. One competition entrant will be chosen to receive a picture of the most popular player in a style similar to that of Bobbie Goulding, one of our walking team, below.

____________________

Friday November 2nd

6 WEEKS TO GO

MAJOR DONATION - Massive shout-out to Andy Flockton (@aflockton1), a big Reds fan living in Grimsby. Andy has pledged £10 per mile making a hugely generous total of £960. Incredible gesture for which we are all immensely grateful. Thanks Andy.

FOOTBALL SHIRTS - Further progress this week. We will sortly receive a signed Crewe shirt arranged via their centre half Mark Ellis. The shirt will have his name and number 5 on the back, courtesy of his proud father-in- law. We have also made contact with Huddersfield and have been offered a signed shirt.

SWEATSHIRTS - We have a sponsor who are arranging for the provision of sweatshirts. This sponsor is Brewpack Ltd, an engineering firm from the south, who have also donated £96 as well

PHOTOGRAPHER - Neil Grace, a Liverpool supporting sports photographer from Halifax, has agreed to join the walk and stay with the event throughout. His role will be to snap the walkers, the support team and any of the sponsors consistently and at times unexpectedly throughout the walk to provide the material for the DVD what we plan to make afterwards. Welcome aboard Neil.

EVERTON - One of our main EFC contacts is Kipper, otherwise known as Steve Jones. Steve has publicised our even on his Everton website, particularly the presence of David Unsworth and our gesture of the banner. You can read his article in ful here. We understand that Steve plans to be there for the presentation and then to take the banner to the Britannia Stadium where the Blues are playing that day.

____________________

Tuesday October 30th

YESTERDAY'S DAILY STAR - The Daily Star have now put the right picture in their online story. Read it here

EVERTON PLAYER - We have been trying to arrange for an Everton player to stand opposite Liverpool's Neil Mellor during the presentation of the banner at Goodison Park. We know know that David Unsworth will be representing the Blues on that day. We are arranging for a specially commissioned one-off version of our t-shirt be made for him.....in blue.

RE-PLANNING - Changes were needed around Oldham. These are complete with no overall impact to the route and timings. The overall route is 95.74 miles, essentially 96.

THE OFFICIAL REDS' ROSE BANNER - Having seen how well received the Everton banner was, we thought it only right and proper that we have one that's pure Liverpool. Again our graphic designer Carl Ashton has not let is down. Its will be fantastic once Liam, Jordan and Dale finish its production.

 

____________________

Monday October 29th

MONEY PLEDGED - We have topped the £3000 mark in terms of money pledged. Its a small step but there's a while to go.

NEW PRIZE - We have a new prize for the sponsors draw. A signed Steven Gerrard shirt from 11 years ago at the start of his carrier has been donated, complete with frame.

DAILY STAR - The Star printed Dave Wilson's account of the truth 89 years ago. They printed a follow on story today. Click here to read. 

THE ICONIC EVERTON SHIRT - A significant gesture from Everton Football Club

 

____________________

Saturday October 27th

DAILY STAR - Doing a follow up article from Dave Wilson's story that they published 23 years ago (See our motivation). Highly likely to be in Monday's paper

£96 for the 96 - We are off and running with this. The first two forms are back. We now have in excess of 80 of these forms in circulations all told. So we should see that figure above steadily increasing.

THE ANFIELD WRAP - Big thanks to Jim Boardman for printing Cherie's story on their website. Click here to read it.  Its a great article, much appreciated. It follows on from the plug Neil Atkinson gave us on the show / podcast earlier in the week.

SIGNED SHIRTS - We have received more signed shirt offers this week from Crewe Alexandra and also confirmation that Bolton Wanderers will be providing us with Kevin Davies matchworn shirt signed by the team. This will be delivered by ex player and current coach Tony Kelly, a scouser born and bred, who will join the walk between Bolton and another of his old teams, Wigan. Cheers Tony.

T-SHIRTS - Our t-shirts went on sale last week and we are already seeing sales. Congratulations to Carol Johnson who officially bought the first. You can buy yours here. They got their first outing at the Anzhi game on Thursday and had many people asking about the event. Neil Mellor certainly liked his when we presented it to him (see below)

BANNERS - The Everton banner was unveiled at the Anzhi game and so many people wanted photos. So Liam, Carl, Jordan and Dale are now working on a banner for the walker to walk behind as they approach LFC at the end

      

____________________

Wednesday October 24

BIG NEWS - We can now take card payments through our Help My Cause page. Click the button above to be taken to the page thats explains it more fully.

96th SON - News of the release of this song is reported here on the LFC website. Get onto iTunes and dowload it for just 79p if you havent already

MEDIA - Discussions with the Daily Star today who are likely to be running a follow-up to their original story with Dave Wilson from 23 years ago. Could be run as early as next week.

£96 FOR THE 96 - so far 58 of these forms are out there with money being collected against them. If you feel you can help get some of the remaining 38, then email us at redsrosewalk@gmail.com. We really need peoples support here. Many thanks!!

PETITION FOR RECOGNITION FOR KENNY - Peter Chadwick (@mrpeterchadwick) is championing this cause. I think we all know that Kenny Dalglish was quite magnificent in the way he supported the families after Hillsborough and I am sure they still have his support today. The news is littered with those who havent deserved their knighthoods and yet here is one person who so clearly does. Please fill in the petition to show your support by clicking here

OFFICIAL T-SHIRTS - These are now available to all. Click here for more details.

____________________

Monday October 22

Hillsborough Debate in the House of Commons today. The machine is clearly moving in the right direction finally. It cannot be allowed to come off the rails. Special mention for the magnificent Andy Burnham. He continues to be someone Liverpool fans are completely indebted to.

The Shankly Way have reported the story - read it here

£96 for the 96 is progressing well. Over 50 of our 96 forms have been allocated and money is being collected on these. We hope to have our bank account up and running these week so online donations will be come much easier.

The walkers t-shirts arrived today from @Soccerprint. They look seriously superb and will go on sale to everyone later this week. We get a £2 donation for every shirt bought.

'96th Son' has been released on iTunes today. Download costs 79p only and all profits go to HFSG &HJC through the Reds' Rose Walk. Come on everyone, get downloading

More clubs engaged to day re signed shirts, publicity and supporter intros. Manchester City sounding very promising and now linked into to Crewe via one of their defenders. Made contact with Huddersfield and Brighton recently too.

____________________

Friday October 19

 Carl Ashton (@LFCflags) has made us some fantastic posters. These are available by returned email from redsrosewalk@gmail.com. More details here

We launch our biggest fund-raising drive yet with the £96 for the 96. More details here

Our Stage Sponsorship has now topped £500

Liverpool return to action against Reading tomorrow. Come on ye Reds!

____________________

Thursday October 18th

Our resident Scouse abroad has penned another insightful bolg. Read it here.

Good progress made with enlisting the support from other clubs. We now have at least four signed shirts to offer in a closed auction. These include Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Bolton Wanderers. Currently working on establishing links with Wigan, Huddersfield, Oldham and Man City, as well as some not on the route including Norwich, Sunderland and Brighton.

Soccerprint have confirmed delivery of the teams t-shirts before the Anzhi game on October 25th

More publicity via the media in the Ellesmere Port Standard and the Chester Standard (below)

____________________

Tuesday October 16th

Check out Sarah Milne's radio show podcast at http://www.croydonradio.com/podcast/ and listen to the first official play of '96th Son' and further Hillsborough related observations including an insightful note from a survivor and the Reds' Rose Poem being read through (not very well...sorry).

Big shout out to Katie, one of our support team. Heroic efforts in trying to get in touch with the clubs on the route. Making some progress on 3-4 - fantastic. Keep up the good work

Carl Ashton (@LFCFlags) has been hard at work on our posters. these will be emailed out to places where they can be exhibited for further progress. Great work Carl.

Our t-shirts are in print and they look good (see below). We can officially announce that we have been working with Dave at Soccerprint (@Soccerprint) and can announce that the t-shirts will go on sale on www.soccerprint.com from the morning of October 25, following Liverpool' match against Anzhi. To those who asked, they do post worldwide with postage charges of course. For every shirt bought, a small donation is made to the Reds' Rose Walk fund.

      

____________________

Monday October 15th

This time in two months, the walk will be over and we will have trounced Aston Villa. Thats then and this is now. And today has been a good day.

Our t-shirt design is out thanks to Dave at www.soccerprint.com. They look seriously cool, dont you think!!

We are considering working with Soccerprint to make these available at £11.99 to all fans, with a decent donation from each going into the Reds' Rose Walk fund.

Two new stage sponsorships have come in today. Grateful thanks to Rutland Roofing and also to the Mister Brightside Cafe in Melbourne Australia.

Spoke at length this evening to Sheffield Wednesday and they are very pleased to be part of this. They have agreed to advertise the event on their website and in their programme. They are also offering us a signed shirt for our closed auction. Many thanks to Trevor Braithwait nd Katie Johnson at SWFC.

We are due to be in the Chester Standard this Thursday and the Wrexham Evening Leader some time soon too. We have made contact with the Sheffield Star and they are very interested too.

Carl Ashton (@LFCflags) is now designing posters. Finding the right place to put these up could be most beneficial.

____________________

Sunday October 14th

A month or so ago, when the idea for the Reds' Rose Walk was discussed by four of the walkers on Wearside, it was simply a humble activity to pay tribute to the amazing fortitude and determination of the families of the victims over the last 23 years. It's been fantastic to see the enthusiasm, the support and the hard work that has gone on since then. We have worked hard to get this into the public eye for the sole reason of raising profile and ultimately increasing the money we can rasie for HFSG and HJC.

Today we made it into a national Sunday newspaper thanks to Dominic Herbert's article below. When you read the headline below, it can't fail to make you think. It would be wrong to overplay the walk. The real news in this article is nothing to do with what we are doing. The very fact that we are mentioned in the same breath is both humbling and it makes us more determined to make the best job we can of the Reds' Rose Walk. Everything we do has to pay true tribute to the victims, their amazing families and the city of Liverpool. We will endeavour to do just that and we hope that everyone will continue to support us. #LFCfamily #YNWA

For the full article, read here.

After speaking to the journalist, we are very hopeful that that the Sunday Mirror will be looking to cover the event as it completes at Everton and Liverpool possibly to be included the very next day.

The great news is that we have now topped the £1000 pound barrier. Nice one.

____________________

Saturday October 13th

We will now maintain this figure at the top of Latest News page which will show the banked or genuinely promised amounts on an ongoing basis. The figure above is nothing like what we are predicting though. We have a couple of Donation Strategies in plan (one detailed below) and with successful completion of these, we hope to raise in excess of £13000. This amount excludes the unquantifiable general donations.

Today we launch the search to find 17 Stage Sponsors. We are looking largely for companies or organisations who can support us with a donation for HFSG / HJC of £120 or more. As well as supporting such a worthy cause, any such sponsors will get a stage allocated to them with publicity through this site, Twitter shoutouts and with further publicity in the free downloadable brochure that will be available towards the end of November. For more details, see our Stage Sponsorship page here

We have our first two Stage Sponsors already. So grateful thanks go out to

• ACS Cleaning Services, and
• Cognoscenti Associates

STOP PRESS : We are led to believe that the Reds' Rose Walk may make a Sunday paper tomorrow. More news later!

____________________

Friday October 12th

Today's announcement from the IPCC suggests there has been further huge progress in the quest for justice for those who have waited 23 years for it. Read here how the BBC are reporting this story

Good progress made in our arrangements for the banner handover at Goodison. Contact has been made on two fronts with Everton. We had hoped that Graeme Sharp would have been around for the presentation but he will be down at the Britannia for the Stoke City match. We are hopeful that other ex Blues will be available.

Our website has changed as now this news page has become the Home page. Our support team now has its own page here. One of our biggest supporters Owen Serjeant has sent us his insight into the walk and Hillsborough in general - its a real MUST READ piece, check it out here

Neil Mellor confirmed today that he is going to be to the Reds' Rose Walk what Phil Collins was to Live Aid. Neil will join Cherie, Gary and Bobbie on the first stage in Sheffield. He will also meet us at Everton to be there for the banner presentation before joining the last stage to Anfield. He is genuinely excited to be part of the walk.

____________________

Thursday October 11th

Latest update on our proposed online donations page - the current payment links arent ideal and we want to find a way for people to donate using credit / debit cards. Our event bank account is in the process of being set up and then we will be able to add a traditional donation page. This should take another week. then we are away!!

Already mentioned that Neil Mellor is joining the event. We are hoping now that he will be at the very start at Hillsborough. This is a massive coup as he played for Wednesday too and hopefully this can get us real publicity that end.

The banner is finished and we cant wait to see what it looks like for real. We have to thank Liam, Jordan and Dale Coach, not forgetting Carl Ashton for their fantastic work. There's always been banter between Liverpool and Everton fans but over the issue of the injustices of Hillsborough both teams have stood side by side with great resolve. It will be a pleasure for the walkers to present this banner to Everton FC and their fans.

 

____________________

Tuesday October 9th

Liver Executive Tours, run by Hillsborough survivor Hugh Hendrickson, is now supporting the walk by providing a minibus to carry those not walking around the route. He is also providing the necessary drivers to drive the vehicle for us.

The team has a new walker for the full journey. Laura Woodcock (@scouserlaura) joins the team. Also Josh and Katie Wilson will join the last stages. The new rota for walking is available here

We have had more good publicity today with another Echo article. The links also appeared on the Liverpool club website. You can find the links here and here

Check out the movie of the banner being made.

Car signs now delivered for the support vehicles during the walk.

____________________

Monday October 8th

We have another celebrity joining the walk. TV chef Aiden Byrne, as Liverpudlian and ardent red, will be joining the walk to help out friend Glen Moore, from Scoff Outside, who are providing refreshments for the walkers. Aiden may also do his stint in terms of walking too. Welcome aboard Aiden (@AidenByrne).

Sir Kenny went to his first game yesterday, shame about the score but he gained some football 'Wisdom' and turned in a 'Sterling' performance as can bee seen in his gallery. Everyone he met was totally behind his drive for more recognistion for the real Kenny Dalglish, whose amazing contribution soon after Hillsborough has hitherto gone unrecognised....scandalously.

The Cooch boys have come up trumps and our banner is looking magnificent

____________________

Friday October 5th

The walkers will now be properly fed. Glen Moore from 'Scoff Outside' have agreed to come out to the walk at regular meal times and keep us fed and more importantly privide warm drinks to see off the cold December nights. Scoff are financing this for us making them a key Official Sponsor for the walk. We are very grateful to Glen for this.

We had more publicity last night in the Mathchday Magazine versus Udinese thanks to Beth's negotiating

____________________

Thursday October 4th

Great news today - ex Red Neil Mellor (@NeilMellor33) is joining the walk. There are few better candidates for this given that Neil had a spell at Sheffield Wednesday as well as being one of our own. Who could forget his role in that great night against Olympiakos or that quite amazing last minute winner from distance against Arsenal

Defeat tonight for the Reds. Disappointing as they played so well for much of the game.

Sir Kenny got some exciting news today - click here

____________________

Wednesday October 3rd

Lots of great messages left in our guestbook today. Each are as valuable as the other to us. Its great hearing everyones thoughts on the event. We have heard from Danielle Warren, Peter Hooton, Mark Moraghan, Karen Gill but perhaps the one that captured the essence of the event best came from Martin Lipton from the Daily Mirror

Plenty more retweets today including Neil Mellor, Jordan Ibe, Razor Ruddock, Vinny O'Connor, Pete Wylie, Danielle Warren, Martin Lipton and Tony Evans. We also had one from Liverpool's youngest first teamer.

We are looking to make a gesture of thanks and respect to Everton Football Club when the walk passes there on the Saturday morning in December. Liam, Jordan and Dale Cooch have started work on the design for a banner that we plan to hand over.

Sarah's session to record "96th Son" was rearranged today leaving Sir Kenny gutted. The single will be recorded and made available later this month.

 __________________

Tuesday October 2nd

BREAKING NEWS - Ex Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo has agreed to join the Reds' Rose Walk in its Yorkshire stages. It will be great to have Dom as part of our team.Hopefully some other famous Reds players of fans will agree to join the fray as we get closer to the big weekend.

We have been talking to Glen Moore of 'Scoff' about providing catering support for the walkers at points through the journey. Its great news that Glen has told us he is 100% behind the walk.

 ____________________

Monday October 1st

Sir Kenny starts his one-bear crusade to get King Kenny the recognition he deserves for his support for the families after Hillsborough. You can follow his exploits here. This week he is off to the recording studio.

Paul and Linda from Norwegian Wood Florists on Queens Drive in Liverpool today agreed to provide the 96 roses to be left at the Hillsborough Memorial at the end of the walk.

 ____________________

Saturday September 29th

The report receives publicity in James Pearce's column in the Liverpool Echo here. Thanks James.

Liverpool win 5-2 with a great Luis Suarez hat-trick. Ok its not Reds Rose Walk news but its still fantastic news.

More sponsors prizes have been donated. So huge thanks to

• Gusto Restaurant in Heswall
• The Village Hotel in Whiston

 ____________________

Friday September 28th

The retweets continue - John Barnes, John Scales, Mickey Quinn, Vinny O'Connor (Sky), Phil Thompson, and Neil 'Razor' Ruddock among those who have obliged.

We are hopefully going to appear in the Match Day programme in the Udinese match thanks to Beth's hard work.

Our bank account is now being set up. That should facilitate easier an donation mechanism and a way of splitting all donations evenly between HFSG and HJC

 ____________________

Thursday September 27th

Reds' Rose Walk poem is published here. Great feedback has been received on this. Its presently being used by Sarah Milne as part inspiration for new music for the post walk DVD.

 ____________________

Tuesday September 25th

Our band of walkers has been increased as former GB Rugby League International and massive Liverpool fan Bobbie Goulding has joined the ranks of the Reds's Rose Walkers. Bobbie, with his sons Bobbie Jnr and Bradley will be part of the team right through from the Leppings Lane to the finish at Anfield.

 ____________________

Monday September 24th

Countless retweets in Twitter publicising the event. The most well known of these include Didi Hamann, Neil Mellor, Neil Fitzmaurice, Pete Wylie, Derek Hatton, Peter McDowell (LFCTV), Spirit of Shankly and Roy Henderson (The Anfield Wrap). James Pearce (Liverpool Echo) wants to do the story. Fantastic

There's a plan for a DVD of the walk for release on You Tube. Sarah Milne has agreed to provide the music for this. Check out her latest Hillsborough tribute - '96th Son' - Click here to listen.

 ____________________

Sunday September 23rd

The website www.fromthekop.com is launched and the (Twitter) world now knows about the Reds' Rose Walk.

 ____________________

Saturday September 22nd

An ex-pat Liverpool fan in the USA makes a very generous offer to pay for the equipment that the walkers will need. We respect his wish for anonymity but all involved would like to take the opportunity to thank him for his amazing gift. We will ensure that we use a sizeable amount of his offer goes to those we are walking for.

 ____________________

Friday September 21st

The organisers make contact with two of the key officials at the Hillsborough Family Support Group and the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and the idea of our event is warmly received

 ____________________

Sunday September 16th

Sadly we lost my mother-in-law recently and following her funeral we decided it would be appropriate to take her flowers to the Memorial at Anfield. My father-in-law (below) places the flowers with all the rest of the tributes. She would have been very proud.

____________________

Saturday September 15th

The idea for the walk is agreed between four other the walkers in a pub in Sunderland after the draw with the Mackems. By the end of the day, the other four walkers had been recruited. An idea was born!