Inspired by gran to get walking for aid charity
10,000 STEPS A DAY OVER LENT TO HELP END WATER POVERTY
A CLIMATE campaigner is walking 10,000 steps per day for 40 days to end water poverty.
Mairi-Frances McKay, from Leicester, said she has been inspired to take on the Lent challenge by late grandmother, Anne Feeney.
Anne, who trained as a mental health nurse during the Second World War, was a committed supporter of UK international development charity, Cafod.
“My grandmother did a lot of charity campaigning,” Mairi-Frances said.
“She was passionate about helping people and seeing change in the world and would speak to everyone she came across about the campaigns that Cafod did.”
Mairi-Frances, will be joining thousands of other supporters across England and Wales who will be completing 10,000 steps every day, over the 40 days of Lent.
She said: “My grandmother would always share stories about having to walk to her village well in Ireland to get buckets of water as a child, and about the times she would walk miles to visit the sick and to see those who were at the end of their lives.
“She always encouraged us to get involved in campaigns using our voices to make a difference. I can’t let her down.”
Mairi-Frances, 25, took part in Climate Champions campaign, in 2019, a year-long volunteering programme that enables young people to play a part in creating a better world.
“Being a part of Climate Champions made me realise making a difference is more than posting about an issue on Facebook, it’s about actively getting involved and asking myself ‘how I can get others involved too?,’” she said.
Cafod community coordinator Maggie Mairura said: “It is so inspiring to hear Mairi-Frances’s story.
“Cafod says a big thank you to her and thousands of supporters who are embarking on their Walk for Water challenge. This Lent they will be transforming lives.
“We will be working with local aid experts and communities to find the best solutions in each place we work.
“Coordinating sanitation and hygiene training will also be a part of this work, as well as setting up water committees, allowing communities to take ownership and keep the water flowing.”