The Lysicrates Foundation will hold the first Martin Children’s Walk on Wednesday, November 29 this year.
Friends of Lysicrates will know the famous James Martin episode, immortalised in the twin statutes in Martin Place and Parramatta, in which the 12-year-old Martin, determined to get the high school education unavailable at home in Parramatta, decided that, since his parents couldn’t afford the carriage fare, he would walk the distance to Sydney himself. Which he did.
The Martin Children’s Walk will re-enact and celebrate the boy’s bravery and love of learning.
Children from six schools will do the same walk, in five relays of about 5 kilometres each, starting at 6 am from Parramatta Square and ending at around 11.30 am in Martin Place.
The “baton” will be a copy of the Iliad, the prize given to the 14-year-old James Martin for excellence at school.
In Martin Place, the NSW Premier will welcome the children, and there will be some short festivities.
