25 Apr 2025
BSAVA PetSavers management committee chairperson Rosie Godfrey is taking on a marathon challenge of her own this weekend.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Rosie Godfrey, who is walking 26 miles by the River Thames.
A vet is embarking on a marathon fund-raising walk for a veterinary research charity along the River Thames this weekend.
Rosie Godfrey, who chairs BSAVA PetSavers’ management committee, will traverse a 26-mile route along the river on Saturday 26 April, starting at Hampton Court Palace and ending at Millennium Bridge.
Dr Godfrey raised £800 for the charity’s 50th anniversary last year when she pioneered the “Chair’s Challenge,” a 9.3-mile end-to-end walk over the Malvern Hills.
For 2025, Dr Godfrey is aiming to go further with this now-annual challenge and raise £1,000 for PetSavers, which awards research grants to universities and vet practices to fund the advancement of companion animal medicine and surgery.
“I love walking, but had not really walked much more over 10 miles in one go before, and so I wanted to set myself a challenge, as well as raise money for BSAVA PetSavers,” she said.
“The charity is close to my heart and although small, is a vital funder of small animal clinical research in the UK.”
Dr Godfrey is hoping to complete the marathon walk alongside her husband David, the BSAVA’s current vice president, and they have been preparing for the challenge since January.
She added: “For the first time in my life, I have become acquainted with the gym, its machinery and terminology.
“My lovely trainer Carla has helped a middle-aged, non-sporty woman feel comfortable and relatively competent in the gym, and I think my fitness is now in the rough ballpark for completing the challenge.
“David and I walked over 21 miles last Saturday, so bring it on.”
The pair have set up a JustGiving page for donations.
