One of Silas’s favourite songs was “500 miles” by The Proclaimers. He first heard this aged 4, late at night, at his godmother Natasha’s wedding and, despite the hour, he danced and danced until he had to be dragged to bed by his exhausted parents. Over the following years, Silas danced to this song at every opportunity, mostly around the kitchen island with his brothers, and he would bellow out the words of the chorus. For us this song is inextricably linked to Silas and his madcap energy.
In July 2020, to mark what would be his 18th Birthday and his coming of age and to overcome the ageing knees of his parents, the Pullen family undertook The Mighty Boy Walk – 100 miles around the Kent Coast (a total of 500 miles between us) over the course of a week, and Silas was with us every step of the way.
With the disruptions and restrictions of Covid, we had to change our original plans and pare down the numbers joining us. We started at Lydd in the south and walked north through Hythe, Folkestone, Dover, Deal, Sandwich, Ramsgate, Margate, Herne Bay, Whitstable to Faversham and then across country to home.
We were joined by many of our friends, friends of the boys and friends of Silas. The weather was mostly kind to us (apart from a brutal day walking from Birchington to Whitstable in 37 degree heat). We dealt with blisters, chafing and pulled muscles but marched on through. Silas would have been seriously impressed with his brothers who walked without complaint.
Just under £12,000 was raised in total for the charity – a fantastic amount, which is much needed in these difficult times.
A mighty thank you to everyone who joined us and everyone who dug in their pockets to sponsor us – we could not do any of this without all of you……
The Mighty Boy 