Young farmers back from charity trek
They completed a 192-mile coast-to-coast trek
FOOTSORE friends from Market Bosworth Young Farmers Club have raised more than £800 for Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance Service after striding out on a 192-mile coast-tocoast walk.
Laurence Fox, Gemma Hiatt, Kim Wheeler, Rebecca Smith, Rachel Tattersall, Suzannah Mullin and Thomas Herrick, all aged in their 20s, took part in a trek from St Bee’s in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire during some of the hottest days of the year, to raise money for the club’s chosen charity.
Club spokesman Rachel Tattersall described the experience as “very difficult but fantastic”.
Extreme weather conditions and navigational challenges - which led to the group walking far further than the official route - added to their 12-day test of resolve and stamina.
But smashing their £500 target along the way gave them a boost.
Rachel said: “Being a set route we were expecting the signposts to be very clear and the navigating to be fairly simple so that we could concentrate on the real challenge of the walking.
“This was not the case and the navigating proved to be just as difficult a challenge as the walk.
“Although we should have walked 192 miles, we completed many more with taking the wrong paths and our accommodation was off route.”
As well as extreme heat, the group found themselves disoriented on one day as cloud came down on a mountain ascent.
Rachel said: “We could not see anything in the distance and the path was very unclear.
“The rain and wind were blowing straight into our faces and at points we found it very difficult to stand up straight in the wind as it was so strong.
“Team members became very worried so we walked on a north east bearing until we got down off the mountains, fortunately we ended up on the correct path after checking with some passers-by.”
Their most arduous day saw them cover 47km from Haweswater Reservoir to Kirkby Stephen.
Messages of support from wellwishers on social media and in person throughout the walk helped to keep them going.
In addition to those who walked, Rachel said special thanks were due to Peaches Furborough for publicity, Alison Fletcher who helped to carry kit during the first week and Tracy and Kevin Hiatt who provided the trekkers a “fantastic” picnic at Ravenseat.
Donations can still be made by texting MBYF99 £ (amount you would like to donate) to 70070 or visiting the club’s JustGiving page www.justgiving. com/MBYF
Market Bosworth Young Farmers Club has been raising money all year for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance Service.
Members are hoping that a final fundraising comedy night in October will take their total amount raised to at least £2,500, which will cover the cost of one call-out and potentially save a life.