Barefoot trek raises £1,000 for good cause

A former University of Kent student and Faversham schoolboy has trekked 120 miles across southern England in his bare feet.

Dale Potts spent two weeks walking from Winchester in Hampshire to Farnham in Surrey from where he picked up the Pilgrims Way, arriving in Canterbury last week.

The 34-year-old university researcher raised £1,000 for the Syria Relief charity.

Dale, who attended Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham and lives in Milton, said: “It was hard going at first but my feet soon hardened. I camped out half the time and the rest I stayed in hotels when I needed to tend to my feet, pulling things out of them, even a piece of glass.

“The walk was fun. It was easier on the sand, grass and mud, but some of the flint pathways were hard. I’d basically walked around in my bare feet for only about a week and would prepare for longer if I ever did something like this again.

“But I did very much enjoy walking through the beautiful southern countryside. I felt moved to do the walk for Syria Relief because there are a lot of Syrians still in the Middle East who need help there.”

Log on to www.justgiving.com/pilgrims-waybarefoot if you would like to support Dale’s fundraising efforts.

Barefoot walker Dale Potts