Rape Crisis supporter David Foster is a finalist in the Just Giving Awards 2025 after raising almost £12,000 in memory of his daughter Emily.
David Foster, who lives in London with his wife and dog Pippin, raised an incredible £11,913 to help fund our vital services with a sponsored walk around the South West coast.
He was nominated for the Just Giving Awards for Outstanding Commitment by his friend Mark, who joined him on one of the final days of his walk. David said the nomination came as “a complete surprise – a really nice one!”
You have until 31 August 2025 to vote for David in the Just Giving Awards – don’t miss your chance! You can read David's story below.
Vote for David now in the Just Giving Awards
Walking 140 miles for Emily, so more people like her will be believed and supported
In May 2024, I walked 140 miles from Land's End, the far tip of Cornwall, along the south coast to Looe, a lovely little fishing village where my daughter Emily used to live and work. We lost Emily last year to suicide, after a long fight to recover from her experiences of sexual violence.
Emily loved walking on the coast, and it was one of her ambitions to hike the whole way. We’d even walked parts of it together. So to walk this route in her memory felt like a lovely thing to do.
The walk was beautiful – and quite tiring! There were a lot of coastal paths down into valleys and up cliffs, which was quite hard work for my 60-odd-year-old legs! Luckily, my wife was there to help me with the logistics of getting me to and from my night’s accommodation.
"It was so beautiful and so poignant at the same time"
My dog Pippin was with me for lots of it. He had a great time and now looks permanently disappointed whenever we go for a walk that’s not 15 miles along a clifftop! And I was also joined by others for parts, like my brother, my other daughter, and my friends. It was gorgeous. I also had the most amazing weather – barely a drop of rain in a fortnight!
It’s hard to describe, but it was an incredible experience. It was so beautiful, and so poignant at the same time. At the heart of it all is Emily. She found it so hard to talk about what happened to her, and one of her fears was that she wouldn’t be believed, but whenever she could open up, she found it quite life-changing.
That’s why I wanted to support Rape Crisis, because they help survivors talk about what happened to them, support them and believe them. We couldn’t save Emily, but by fundraising for Rape Crisis, we can help people like her be supported and believed.
"We wanted to help people like Emily be supported and believed"
We set ourselves a target of £10,000 – so to actually beat that has been fantastic! So many people have been touched by Emily’s story; it’s been extraordinary. The Rape Crisis t-shirt I was wearing got ruined with suncream and sweat, but I couldn’t take it off because I wanted everyone to see who I was supporting. And when they heard my story of Emily, and why I was fundraising, they would just hand me money and say, “Here’s £20, put that towards your cause.”
Emily was a passionate feminist. She worked in mental health as an educational mental health practitioner, supporting children with their issues – she just wanted to give back and help people. She was an amazing person, and I hope she’d be proud that we’re now helping people in her memory.