UK charity walk for RP raises £4,000

MANILA, Philippines - The wife of a former British ambassador to Manila raised more than £4,000 for the construction of schools and houses in Manila after completing her charity walk in London, an embassy report said yesterday.

Jill Beckingham, wife of Ambassador Peter Beckingham, finished her 60-mile journey from London to Brighton last Dec. 1 for the children and families in Tondo, Manila.

The Philippine embassy in London said the funds will help in the construction of school facilities and family dwellings in the Tondo area.

Her original target was to raise £1,000 from the charity walk through small sponsorships and donations given to the website www.justgiving.com/Jillbeckingham.

The positive public response for the activity made Beckingham increase her target repeatedly. At the end of her walk, £2,300 was raised through the site.

Beckingham said that HSBC-Manila agreed to match her sponsorships up to £2,000, bringing the total amount to over £4,300.

Her walk began on the early morning of Nov. 28 at the steps of the Philippine embassy in London.

Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s Antonio Lagdameo and other senior embassy officials saw off Beckingham and her companions as they headed south. The group passed London landmarks such as Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Parliament and the river Thames.

Throughout her walk, Beckingham wore a shirt of the Philippine Community Fund (PCF), a registered charity founded by Jane Walker in 1996. Beckingham is a patron of the charity.

Walker was recently named one of the Women of the Year in the UK for her outstanding achievements and dedication in helping the poorest communities in the Philippines.

Ambassador Beckingham was UK’s top diplomat in the Philippines from 2005 to August 2009.

Beckingham’s charity walk is her last fund raising project before she and her husband move to Mumbai in February 2010 where the ambassador will assume his new post.