Charity Firewalk In Belfast.

Guest Post from Jennie Wallace

I suffered a stroke in February 2023, aged 41. It was a huge traumatic shock for myself, my family, my friends & colleagues. But in the months that followed I worked hard on my recovery, both physical & mental. With the help of local charity, NI Chest Heart & Stroke, I learned to walk again which not only gave me a bit of independence back, but also improved my confidence.

I wanted to give something back to the charity that had given so much to me, and I came up with the idea of a firewalk. After learning how to walk I wanted a new challenge, and learning to walk on fire seemed like a fun one – I had seen things about charity firewalks before, and wondered if we’d be able to hold our own charity firewalk in Belfast.

In January 2024 I started researching the idea and found Lottie & Wild Soul Tribe – Lottie trains firewalk instructors in the West of Ireland, so I booked a call with her to find out more about firewalks, and whether the idea of a fundraising firewalk was a viable one. Lucky for me it was! Lottie was able to talk me through the logistics, what to look for in a venue, how to price the tickets & how to maximise donations. She was kind enough to reach out to a past student of hers, Lynda,  in the south of Ireland who got involved also.

Spurred on with useful information I set about co-ordinating everything to make it happen and most importantly, first things first for getting our charity firewalk in Belfast off the ground – finding a venue. 

Once I had convinced my friend at Happy Feet Podiatry to loan me her clinic grounds, the rest of it fell into place. Guided by Lottie I was able to easily recruit 70 willing participants, all eager to face the flames.

I set up a website & online registration at www.belfastfirewalk.com and got local businesses to sponsor some of the running costs to maximise the donations to charity. Each participant fundraised themselves and by the time it came to the event day in May 2024 we had generated £10k in donations!

The charity firewalk itself couldn’t have gone better. We were blessed with sunny weather (a rare occurrence in Belfast!) which only added to the good vibes.

Lottie & Lynda were super professional & organised right from the get-go making sure that safety was the number one priority. With over 100 people milling around, including children, this was hugely important and it was reassuring to know it was being taken care of. 

After some motivational talking, singing & dancing, energies were high and we made our way outside to the firewalk itself. An excited procession of 70 people snaked through the grounds as cheering spectators watched on. With music blasting & everyone cheering we all made our way across the fire with many people walking 2 or 3 times. It was an exhilarating experience that will not be easily forgotten. 

After sharing photos from the event, donations continued to come in, and in July 2024 I was able to present a cheque to NICHS for £18,265

An incredible amount of money raised, and I’m so grateful to Lottie & Wild Soul for being instrumental in making it happen!