Watch: Woman who walked from Glasgow to Rome for Mary’s Meals is writing a book on her experiences

From Home to Rome, a year on from the life shaping journey that took Geraldine McFaul from her front door in Balarnock to the Capital of Italy by foot all whilst raising more than £7,000 for charities. Aged 54, her adventure began in May 2023 and was completed six months later in November. As she documented the walk through social media Geraldine is now reflecting on her travels as she compiles her tales into a book.

We heard about Geraldine’s story recently at the Mary’s Meals branch in Glasgow’s Southside. We also heard more about her selected charities and the work they do. 

“I don’t know why I did it”, she laughs. “The backstory is that in 2016 a random thought popped into my head - ‘I’ve never been to Rome’ and the next thought was ‘one day I’ll walk there’. That was it. Such a ridiculous stupid idea that it took me two years to tell anybody. 

“My mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia that year so obviously I wasn’t going to be doing it any time soon. It was only after she died that I had the time and I made plans and went off from my own front door on the 6 May 2023. 

“I was making it up as I went along, I didn’t really have much of a plan other than head south and then France and then beyond. It took six months. I left on the 6 May and arrived on the 4 November. I did take days off, sometimes weekends and I took breaks along the way. 

“When I say about not telling anyone for two years, by that time I already had two rules - I am not carrying a rucksack and I am not going over the Alps. I had no idea how I was solving them. 

“I was actually pulling a trailer, which is a buggy for parents who run. It was strapped round my waist - a metre long poll with a buggy attached so I was always on the road rather than footpaths. It was different from most people walking long distance, like the West Highland Way-type walk that wouldn’t have been an option.

“I was making my route up everyday so while I was going from Glasgow to Rome it soon became that my A to B was where I travelled that day. every morning I’d get up and I’d look at Google Maps and figure out roughly twelve miles but often it was longer or sometimes shorter. It depended on if there way somewhere I could stop that night, how I would get there, whether routes were too hilly. I was making everyday up as I went along. 

“I had my tent and my cooking equipment with me. Some days were longer than others and that was me saying ‘I’m having a really tough day today and I’ve had enough and I’m taking a break’. And that was the beauty of being on my own and not having to negotiate anything. I wasn’t in a hurry. No one was telling me how far I had to go. 

“I arrived on the outskirts of Rome on a Friday afternoon and a bunch of my friends came over from the UK to be there at the finish line for me. The idea was then, on the Saturday I was walking to the finish line at St Peter’s Square, they were going to walk the last few miles with me and some more friends were there at the finish line. The President of Mary’s Meals Italy and some of his staff and volunteers were there at the finish line to greet me as well. 

“Just as I got to the outside of the square the tears and the emotions just erupted and I don’t think it stopped for about an hour. Seven of us then drank champagne at a roof terrace on St Peter’s Square. It used to be Pope Paul VI’s residence so we called it the ‘Pope’s Pub’. We had a fabulous weekend and then on Monday my friends all went home and my 94-year-old godfather and his family came over from Glasgow. We had tickets for the general audience to see the Pope on the Wednesday and I went to go collect the tickets with Sylvia from Mary’s Meals on the Tuesday afternoon and that was when I discovered we didn’t just have tickets for the general audience but I was being presented to Pope Francis. 

“What was lovely as well is that I got to take my godfather Uncle Desmond so we were up on the alter and after the mass Pope Francis came around and we all got a handshake and a big smile. The whole adventure was incredible but that was just the tin lid - getting to meet Pope Francis in the end.

“Mary’s Meals is one of two charities I done it for, I also done it for Dementia UK and that was in memory of mum who had vascular dementia. The story behind Mary’s Meals is that my dad was a black Hackney taxi driver in Glasgow when I was growing up and he used to come in everyday with his bag of change. As I child I would fish through and pick out the half pences, and I would save them up and send them off to help the children in Africa.”

Mary’s Meals was founded in the Scottish Highland village of Dalmally in 2002 with a mission to feed children. The idea came from its founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow following a visit to Malawi during the famine where he witnessed the mental and physical impact of mass starvation. 

From the rollout of their feeding programme it has become apparent that the promise of a nutritious meal attracts children to the school, also improving their education and thus, hope of a brighter future. 

“Mary’s Meals, although is a Scottish charity, started its work in Malawi. I was thinking of a charity to remember dad. They started feeding children in Africa but now they’re feeding 2.4 million children everyday across the world. That’s why I chose Mary’s Meals.

“During my walk, one thread from start to finish was the kindness of strangers I met. I called them ‘kind-nappers’ - kidnapped with kindness. It would be in cafes and pubs that I’d maybe stop for breakfast or lunch and they’d ask what I was doing and would say well ‘this is on the house’ or giving me tea or coffee for free. People would stop me on the street and make donations to the charities.“