No, rick johnson and gill know them both.

And they have not made any money have they?

Really worrying. I hope everything's OK with them.

I honestly don't think it is a scam . But you are not the first to suggest it could be so . I assume that the money on www.charitygiving.co.uk/james2odsal will go to it's intended destination regardless of what happens , but would it be refunded to donators by the foundation in the event that the walk does not take place ?£750 in online donations , and a very similar amount in what I assume are cash donations . It has already been mentioned that Gill is a friend of Andy and James . On hearing that my lad had broken his leg when he got run over Andy suggested that Gill might be able to supply a wheelchair so Carl could join us as we passed through Leeds . Involving Forty20 mag / T&A / Bulls / charitygiving etc is in my opinion way too elaborate for it to be a scam . Just keeping fingers crossed that all is well and it is nothing too serious whatever the problem is .

I honestly don't think it is a scam . But you are not the first to suggest it could be so . I assume that the money on www.charitygiving.co.uk/james2odsal will go to it's intended destination regardless of what happens , but would it be refunded to donators by the foundation in the event that the walk does not take place ?£750 in online donations , and a very similar amount in what I assume are cash donations . It has already been mentioned that Gill is a friend of Andy and James . On hearing that my lad had broken his leg when he got run over Andy suggested that Gill might be able to supply a wheelchair so Carl could join us as we passed through Leeds . Involving Forty20 mag / T&A / Bulls / charitygiving etc is in my opinion way too elaborate for it to be a scam . Just keeping fingers crossed that all is well and it is nothing too serious whatever the problem is .

Ooooh . I forgot to mention the hatemail I have received regarding me withdrawing from the walk .
There have been a few people that have contacted me saying I was doing the right thing , and thankyou to those people . There have also been a few saying some rather unsavoury things about me being a scum Whinos fan that bottled it .
So to put the record straight ...
In all honesty I was rather looking forward to the challenge . I put a hell of a lot of time and effort into practicing and training for the walk . I haven't done any over-time for almost a month because instead I have been walking four or five hours everynight carrying a heavy rucksack in all weather conditions . I have taken 9 day of my holidays to allow for the walk and recovery days . I have spent an absolute fortune on equipment I could ill-afford . I have arranged transport and accomodation for tomorrow night ( both now cancelled ) . I have also used up a few favours from friends . I have met quite a few new friends on my adventures too .
It was not an easy decision to pull out of the walk and I do feel I have let myself and my supporters down . I think I did as much as I could in preparing and publicising the event , but I felt I had no choice though due to the lack of response and information from elsewhere .
Hope that clears up any doubts anyone has about how committed I was to doing the walk .

Regarding your dedication and commitment, I'm sure that as far as most of us are concerned you bow to no-one.

seconded. I can't believe some people would stoop to such lengths.

Thankyou gentlemen . I suppose the ones making the negative comments really ain't worth listening to . I , and one or two of you , know what I have done , and that is all that matters .
The children should remain in the playground when the adults are talking outside it .

After what you have done to help our club out I'm embarrassed to support the same club as anyone that would give you any abuse.

Quote: BaldRick "I honestly don't think it is a scam . But you are not the first to suggest it could be so . I assume that the money on Hi guys and especially BaldRick, As many of you have said I do know James and Andy very well but as with you I've heard nothing at all for about 3 to 4 weeks now, we would have had no problem with lending you a chair for your son at all mate but the only place this has been asked is on here so it was on standby awaiting information from Andy, just sorry it was needed but as for the walk itself I think we can safely say it will not be going ahead. It's getting too late in the day now for things to happen as they were going to sadly. It would be good to hear from Andy here so he can let people know what is going on who have invested a lot of time and money to get ready for the walk, it could be illness it could be anything but by now people should have been told, there is no shame in saying it is too much but as I said at the start this was going to be a mammoth task and take a hell of a lot of planning, regular meetings with all involved as well as determination. I do know that the Bulls have been getting support ready for the walk, they did go to see Andy and just wanted to make sure that the safety of the people walking was taken care off but even after sending an email to Andy to check on things this has not been responded to. The Bulls were planning to have some staff and players supporting the walk. They have not had anything funds wise, they have not organised it this was very much Andy's baby and they can't access any funds unless it is released by Andy but it may mean that the funds have to be given back with the walk not going ahead. As someone else has said on this thread my concern was the timing, the pledge had been successful and so really I was not sure just what raising more money on that scale would accomplish other than it being a great feat of unity by RL fans but I've not been involved enough to really push that point of view. I had a couple of other concerns too which is why I didn't get as involved as I usually would, these were personal though and not related to Andy's ability to organise this or actually do it. BaldRick - Please get in touch with Gareth Cook the Bulls Foundation Manager, I've PM'd his contact details if you don't have them, nobody can doubt your commitment mate or your enthusiasm and dedication and those giving you hassle are mindless morons, did they volunteer to do what you were going to do....I doubt it so you can hold your head high. If I can help in anyway please just drop me a message on gjohnson0@hotmail.com or give me a ring on 01274 587330, I'm just sorry it's not better news

Quote: BaldRick "I honestly don't think it is a scam . But you are not the first to suggest it could be so . I assume that the money on Hi guys and especially BaldRick, As many of you have said I do know James and Andy very well but as with you I've heard nothing at all for about 3 to 4 weeks now, we would have had no problem with lending you a chair for your son at all mate but the only place this has been asked is on here so it was on standby awaiting information from Andy, just sorry it was needed but as for the walk itself I think we can safely say it will not be going ahead. It's getting too late in the day now for things to happen as they were going to sadly. It would be good to hear from Andy here so he can let people know what is going on who have invested a lot of time and money to get ready for the walk, it could be illness it could be anything but by now people should have been told, there is no shame in saying it is too much but as I said at the start this was going to be a mammoth task and take a hell of a lot of planning, regular meetings with all involved as well as determination. I do know that the Bulls have been getting support ready for the walk, they did go to see Andy and just wanted to make sure that the safety of the people walking was taken care off but even after sending an email to Andy to check on things this has not been responded to. The Bulls were planning to have some staff and players supporting the walk. They have not had anything funds wise, they have not organised it this was very much Andy's baby and they can't access any funds unless it is released by Andy but it may mean that the funds have to be given back with the walk not going ahead. As someone else has said on this thread my concern was the timing, the pledge had been successful and so really I was not sure just what raising more money on that scale would accomplish other than it being a great feat of unity by RL fans but I've not been involved enough to really push that point of view. I had a couple of other concerns too which is why I didn't get as involved as I usually would, these were personal though and not related to Andy's ability to organise this or actually do it. BaldRick - Please get in touch with Gareth Cook the Bulls Foundation Manager, I've PM'd his contact details if you don't have them, nobody can doubt your commitment mate or your enthusiasm and dedication and those giving you hassle are mindless morons, did they volunteer to do what you were going to do....I doubt it so you can hold your head high. If I can help in anyway please just drop me a message on gjohnson0@hotmail.com or give me a ring on 01274 587330, I'm just sorry it's not better news

Hi. Gareth Cook has asked me to post this on behalf of the Foundation:-

Hi All,
I just wanted to post this on behalf of Bradford Bulls Foundation, the charitable trust for Bradford Bulls (110660icon_cool.gif.
Having read the posts on the blog I am just as shocked as everyone else about the James2odsal event proposed to start this Saturday!!
The event has been solely organised by Andy Olson, James Brother. He has been responsible for this programme from start to finish and the role of the Foundation was solely to facilitate the use of the charity giving site to transfer the money to the club. We also would have done some of the walking and had organised for mascots and even a player to be present too at certain parts of the walk.
Until yesterday I was still under the impression that this walk was still taking place and I have tried to contact Andy and James on several occasions without a response.
Regarding any fundraising, there has been money raised and nothing has been transferred into the Foundation as we do not control the charity giving page. I presume this has been arranged by Andy.
I am still unaware as to what is happening and would encourage Andy to get in touch ASAP!
Regarding BaldRick I think the effort you have put in has been outstanding and I really hope Andy can clarify what is going on so we all know what is happening, so that all your hard work and dedication isn’t wasted.
As a foundation, we have also pulled staff off other projects to support when required to help with the walk!
I personally visited Andy initially to discuss the idea and he knew that this would have to be organised as a separate by him to support the Pledge like so many others have done.
I hope this sheds a slight bit of light on the situation.
Andy, you need to get in touch ASAP.
Gareth Cook
Foundation Manager

Just hope nothing bad has happened:/

Sorry we still havent heard anything either..there must be a reason, im just hoping that they are both ok.

One thing I would like to make clear before anyone starts throwing stones (as no doubt there will be some ) is that the Bradford Bulls were in no way responsible for organising the walk . The foundation (a seperate entity to the actual Bulls ) were merely supporting and advising as and when they were called upon . They were arranging things such as James' favourite player to call him on Monday ( his birthday) , for a present when he arrived at Odsal , and player involvement on the walk itself etc . If any stones are to be thrown then let them be cast at me , I have got a week with nothing more to do than pick them up and throw them back .

Big thanks to Mick Gledhill for helping out today .

I dont think anyone has done anything wrong at all.. Im more concerned that they're ok. Everyone knows its not your fault & that you'd have done it if you could, its completely out of your hands