Jill Beckingham

The words "charity" and "good cause" have assumed paramount significance in today's world more than ever before. For a country with a burgeoning population of over a billion people; the need to reach out and lend a helping hand to the underprivileged has never been greater! Set in this background, the sterling initiatives and activities of individuals like Mrs. Jill Beckingham, are most praiseworthy. Being the wife of the British Deputy High Commissioner to India, she has effectively lent herself to many a noble cause during her stay in the country. The fact that she is an expat residing in India makes her charitable initiatives, actions and accomplishments even more creditable!

In Ahmedabad at the start of the India-UK Friendship Walk

Jill Beckingham is the brains behind the "Footsteps 4 Good" initiative. This initiative follows her 357 km India-UK Friendship Walk from Ahmedabad to Dandi, replicating Mahatma Gandhi's famous Dandi March in celebration of his birth anniversary last year. In fact, backed by her trusted clique of aides, support staff and thousands of individuals, Jill herself walked every step of the way. Her relentless drive, motivation and passion for the ultimate cause saw her and the many that joined her cover upto 25 km everyday. The tremendous support that she managed to garner coupled with her deeply ingrained belief in the initiative, saw them raise Rs. 75 lakhs that was distributed amongst six charitable organisations - three in Ahmedabad and three in Mumbai. This was an achievement of epic proportions!

If 2010 was anything to go by, the Footsteps 4 Good walk/run promises a lot more this year! Come October 2, celebrate the Birthday of the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi by joining the first Aditya Birla Mumbai 10 km run/walk fund raising event, supported by Tata with sponsorship from Glaxo SmithKline. This event is open to all, aged 12 and above, provided they have donated to their chosen charity. This is also Aamchi Mumbai’s first All-Charity walk/run event as all the money raised during this event goes to charity. There is NO REGISTRATION FEE towards this event.GiveIndia is the Charity Partner of this event.

The only pre-condition for anyone to participate is that they must make a donation of at least Rs.2000 to one of their chosen NGOs in Mumbai through GiveIndia. These NGOs are - Mumbai Mobile Creches, Apnalaya, Toybank, Muktangan, Prerena, Door Step Schools, Magic Bus, Lend-A-Hand India, Women’s India Trust and Habitat for Humanity.Register Now!

Running/Walking is a great way to do good for your own health and do good for society. Moreover, the track length of 10 km does perfect justice to one’s endurance levels if a dream run of 6 kms is too short and the half-marathon at 21 kms is too long a distance. For a nation that prides itself on non violence, October 2nd is no ordinary day and while the entire nation would soon be buzzing with news and views around the popular Joy of Giving week which commences from that day, let us Mumbaikars also put down our best foot forward towards philanthropy, quite literally!