Cross-country trek challenge (From Bury Times)

Cross-country trek challenge

9:46am Thursday 21st February 2013 in News

A COUPLE looking for a challenge are putting on their walking shoes to raise money for Bury Hospice.

Gill and Allan Dawes will follow in the footsteps of Alfred Wainwright, a fell walker and guidebook author, when they tackle a coast-to-coast walk.

They will set off from St Bee’s Head, in Cumbria, on Thursday, March 28, and walk to Robin Hood’s Bay, near Whitby.

The route is just under 200 miles and will take 14 days to complete, walking between nine and 23 miles each day.

Mr Dawes, aged 60, did the walk 12 years ago, but it will be the first time for his wife.

Mrs Dawes, aged 48, said: “I decided I needed to do a challenge. I haven’t done anything major in my life, so I wanted to have a go at the walk and raise some money at the same time. I’m getting quite nervous now that it’s getting closer. I’m looking forward to it, but I know it will be a real challenge mentally as well as physically.”

The couple, of Harper Fold Close, Radcliffe, have been preparing by walking four times each week, sometimes up to 12 miles.

They hope to raise £2,000 for the hospice and received hundreds of pounds from shoppers in collection buckets at Asda in Pilsworth last week.

Mrs Dawes, who works as an administrator, said: “Everybody, if they haven’t been affected by cancer themselves, knows someone who has. We wanted to support a local charity which helps people with cancer and that’s why we chose the hospice.”

To sponsor the couple: go to just giving.com/gill-dawes