Once in a Century Walk - A Centenarian Walk for 4Sight Vision Support 23rd May 2026

My father , Anthony Gillings, (known as Ant) was born just over a month after Her Majesty the Late Queen Elizabeth II.  On Saturday 23rd May 2026 he will turn a 100 and walk two miles.

At the time he was born, TV was a concept, the roaring 1920’s were in full flow, King George V was on the throne (King Charles III is his fifth Monarch) ,  and the Great Depression was about to happen. My father has lived through historic events such as King Edward VIIIs abdication, which he vividly remembers sitting around the radio with his family listening to him abdicate, and the Second World War.

Like most people my father has had his challenges in life including being kidnapped in Nigeria, and losing both his business and home in sixties and having to start all over again when most people are retiring, and having to re build his life again. Throughout these trials and tribulations he has remained positive, which he attributes to his longevity.

In June 2023 he walked five miles for 4Sight Vision Support (4SVS) , in memory of his long term beloved  partner Peggy, raising £2500. In her later years Peggy had a double whammy of both dementia and loss of sight. 4SVS provide invaluable support for  Peggy.

At a 100 Ant considers himself to remarkably lucky to be fit, and he wants to put this to good  use and raise money on his actual birthday by walking two miles ( he will do minimum one mile)  from Lancing Green to the Ardington Hotel, with the purpose of raising £3000 for 4SVS, who remain very special to him.

A Town Crier will launch the walk at 12.30pm on Lancing Green. He will be accompanied by three generations of his family including his great grandson, as well as Tim Loughton former Conservative MP for East Worthing & Shoreham, and friends. A reception will be held at the Ardington Hotel.

Tim Loughton has commented that  “Ant is one of the most active 99-year-olds I know and something of a local legend. Despite his approaching century he still devotes much of his time helping others especially with gardening and helping out maintaining the churchyard at St Mary de Haura, and retains his longstanding interest and involvement with local politics. It was a privilege to walk with him from Shoreham to Worthing 3 years ago, and it is entirely typical that he now intends to repeat the exercise in support of such a good cause close to his heart, 4Sight. I am greatly looking forward to walking with Ant again on the very day he turns 100,  and hopefully keeping up with him! I would urge everyone to support Ant by donating” 

4SVS CEO Kirstie Thomas said “We supported Peggy and her family as we do for so many others through visits , assessments, equipment to help with every day tasks and social activities . We receive no regular in the face of growing demand for our services ; we are so grateful to Anthony , his family and supporters for this great effort and also to the many other community fund raisers whose initiatives help 4SVS continue its invaluable work”

Please support  my father in his aim to raise £3000 by donating for the invaluable work that 4Sight Vision Support (4SVS) undertake for so many people West Sussex
 
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There are an estimated 36000 people in West Sussex with sight loss or low vision. Losing sight is a life changing event, and it costs 4Sight Vision Support £85 a year to support help a person living with sight loss to remain independent.
Any gift you can give would  be greatly appreciated:
·         £15 could enable 12 blind or partially sighted people to feel connected, by receiving one of the 4Sight Vision Support newsletters in a format they can read or listen to.
·         £35 could enable our Vision Support Team to support 4 clients for 4 weeks with tailored advice, which helps them to make best use of remaining sight and live as independently as possible.

* £65 could enable a partially sighted person to read again, following a dedicated assessment with our team to identify magnification, lighting and techniques to make best use of their remaining vision.