Recently, I sent off the first press release about the Challenge, and was pleased to see it published in the Western Gazette last week. For those who missed it:

Hospice Nurse to Tackle John O’Groats to Land’s End Walk

Yeovil, Somerset, 1st July, 2009
Lead nurse at St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice, Phil Edwards, is to walk from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money for the hospice. The 1280-mile journey, starting on May 13th, 2010, will take eight weeks, and Phil is inviting other supporters of St Margaret’s to walk sections with him.

Phil had dreamed of doing this walk for some time, but was spurred into action by seeing the effects of the economic recession on other hospices in the UK. He says, “Across the country, hospice jobs are being cut, and services squeezed, because of the recession. Only last week, a hospice in the east of the country was forced to close a third of its beds.

“As a nurse at St Margaret’s in Yeovil, I see, every day, how vital our work is for people with life-limiting illnesses. It would be tragic if we could not continue to provide the same level of high-quality hospice care for local people. About 80% of our funding comes from voluntary donations, and even a small drop in giving can have profound effects on the work that my colleagues and I are able to do.“

The walk that Phil has devised is almost entirely off-road, and will follow bridleways and footpaths most of the time. It will go through some of the most beautiful parts of Scotland and England, including the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District, the Yorkshire dales, and the Cotswolds.
Accommodation will be in youth hostels, B&Bs, and country inns. Says Phil, “We want this to be a unique experience, and at different times we will be staying in a Scottish castle, a converted railway station, a gothic mansion, an ex-coastguard station, and an 18th century millworker's cottage.”

Walking 15 to 30 miles a day, completing the whole walk will be a feat of endurance. However, Phil believes that most reasonably active people would be capable of joining the Challenge for a few days, “The pace will be steady, and while a few days cover 30 miles or more, most of the time we will be walking between 20 and 25 miles a day.” Phil will also be leading a number of training walks over the next twelve months for those who would like to take part but need to get fit.

The Challenge has already excited the imagination of his colleagues. Several employees of St Margaret’s Hospice have signed up to walk sections of the route. Others have offered to drive the support vehicle or help with fundraising. It has been suggested that this could become one of the biggest fundraising events St Margaret’s has ever staged.

Details of the Challenge can be found on its website – http://www.walktheextramile.com/ – which outlines the route and how to get involved. As well as walkers, Phil and his colleagues also need volunteers to drive the support vehicle and help with publicity. If you wish to sponsor this event, donations can be made on www.justgiving.com/walktheextramile. For details of other ways to support the work of St Margaret’s Hospice, please visit http://www.somerset-hospice.org.uk/ .

You can follow Phil, as he prepares for this epic challenge, on his blog, http://walktheextramile.blogspot.com/.