Former MP off on trek (From Oxford Mail)

Former MP off on trek

1:00pm Monday 26th July 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

A FORMER MP has vowed to walk 450 miles to raise money for a charity he set up.

Tom Benyon, former member for Abingdon, hopes to raise £500,000 from the sponsored walk, in aid of the Zimbabwe a National Emergency (ZANE) organisation, of which he is a director.

Mr Benyon formed the charity in 2003. Recently he has started another good cause, called Jump for Joy, which helps children in Zimbabwe who suffer from club foot.

The retired politician, 69, sets out on his walk on September 20.

He said: “It struck me as a good idea at the time, it struck me as something remarkable to do.

“I am not young and I thought therefore it would be quite an eye-catcher and would get publicity. We need to do that as we are competing with lots of other charities, there are lots of very good causes out there.”

He will start from St Andrew’s Square, in Edinburgh, and aims to reach the House of Lords, in Westminster, on October 18.

Mr Benyon, of Bladon, created the charity after he met Cathy Olds, whose husband Martin had been hacked to death in Zimbabwe. The mother-of-two sought refuge in England and Mr Benyon helped raise money for her.

After a visit to Zimbabwe, the former politician came across hundreds of destitute pensioners, who he vowed to help.

Today the charity, which has raised £7m so far, aims to provide food, medicines and money to as many people as possible. ZANE employs 32 people, doctors, nurses and social workers.

In January, Mr Benyon was awarded the OBE in recognition of his work with ZANE.

He said: “We help World War Two veterans and their widows and people who have fought for the crown. We also deal with club foot, which is a dreadful condition for children to have when it’s untreated.

“The thing that is different about us is that no-one else is operating like us in Zimbabwe, we have worked right through the terrible times and it’s still very difficult.

“We are a relational charity, we don’t dump food, we only help people who we have a relationship with so none of the money is wasted.”

The father-of-four was MP for Abingdon from 1979 to 1983, when the seat was scrapped because of boundary changes. He then went on to become chairman of the Association of Lloyd’s Members and then chairman of the Milton Keynes Health Authority.

He is co-founder of the Community Emergency Food Bank (CEF) with wife Jane, which offers food to the homeless in Oxford.

For more information and to sponsor Mr Benyon, visit ZANE.uk.com