On the 26th of May, Camden Guide Peter Axson will be cycling in the Ride London 100. If 100 miles cycling wasn’t enough round the Essex countryside he will then doing the London to Brighton cycle ride on 16th June, both rides with the aim of raising monet for the Jane Duffield Bursary Charitable Trust.
The Jane Duffield Bursary Charitable Trust was set up in late 2020 in memory of our friend Jane Duffield. Jane was an inspirational teacher who was for some 17 years a teacher, Literacy Co-ordinator, Head of Key Stage and ultimately Assistant Head of Richard Cobden Primary School in the London Borough of Camden. While she was teaching Jane was also following her interest in tour guiding, qualifying as a City of London Guide, a Westminster Guide, and a Clerkenwell and Islington Guide (receiving the Guide of the Year award on this course). After 10 years as a part time guide she gave up her teaching post to train as a Blue Badge Guide, covering not only the whole of London but also other areas such as Windsor, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge and Stratford upon Avon. She qualified as a Blue Badge guide in 2015 and went on to qualify as a London Borough of Camden tour guide, the borough where she had lived and worked for so long.
Jane was an amazing guide, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and fun. She was able to bring her skills in story telling and her passion for making the inaccessible accessible to her guiding. She became a tutor on the Clerkenwell and Islington Course and in 2019 took on the role of Course Director of the Camden Course. Tragically her far too early death meant that she only undertook this for one year but her students were given the benefit of all her experience and skills to learn to become excellent guides.
Jane was always keen to encourage people to consider tour guiding, especially those with a connection to the areas they guided in and she was only too aware that the costs of courses could be a barrier to many, and limited the diversity of applicants.
So it seemed an obvious way to commemorate her and reinforce her legacy to set up this charitable trust to award bursaries to those who by reason of youth, age, ill health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage would otherwise be unable to afford them.
To raise funding so the trust can award bursaries, Peter Axson will be taking in two cycling challenges, and has a Just Giving page where you can sponsor his rides, with funds raised going to Jane Duffield Bursary Charitable Trust.
On 26th May I am cycling in the Ride London 100. If 100 miles cycling wasn’t enough round the Essex countryside I am then doing the London to Brighton cycle ride on 16th June – whilst shorter it has the added challenge of the North and South downs making it anything but flat. In total over 150miles in aid of a charity very close to my heart. The Jane Duffield Bursary Charitable Trust. The charity was created in memory of Jane Duffield a London tour guide of over 30 years The charity focused exclusively on helping underprivileged adults train to be become tour guides. Throughout her career Jane came across hundreds of knowledgeable, intelligent and enthusiastic people whom would make excellent tour guides bring the rich history of the city to life – they simply however couldn’t afford the undertake the training. The charity was established to address this need and to date has granted bursaries to over 20 people. We do however need to do more so please give generously.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
To sponsor Peter with his challenge to raise funds for the trust, click on the link below:
Pete Axson is raising money for the Jane Duffield Bursary Charitable Trust
All donations are gratefully received and will support the training of future guides.
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