The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Couple going extra mile in charity effort
An Angus couple who have challenged themselves to walk 200km during the 40 days of Lent have raised more than £3,000 to date.
John and Hanneke Elder, who live near Brechin, are walking at least 5km every day during Lent as part of CAFOD’s (Catholic Agency For Overseas Development) Walk against Hunger challenge.
The duo are raising money to tackle global food poverty and have realised an impressive £3,200 so far – making them CAFOD’s top Scottish fundraisers, and third overall in the UK.
Both John, 69, and Hanneke, 63, have health conditions which make the walk even more of a challenge.
John said: “I need a new knee and Hanneke has had shingles and nerve pain but, given the generous donations, we are determined to reach 200km and beyond.
“I have non-Hodgkin lymphoma and have also raised money for children’s hospices through walking and Hanneke by offering 50p lunches.”
The couple are lucky enough to be undertaking their effort in the beautiful Scottish and Yorkshire countryside with their dogs Tilly and Winnie.
Hanneke added: “Special places we like to walk include Glen Lethnot, Caterthuns, St Cyrus beach and Glen Esk.
“For the first two weeks of the challenge we stayed in a farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales and walked about 10km each day.”
Each year, more and more people around the world are going hungry despite there being enough food in the world to feed everyone.
Supporters like John and Hanneke are raising money so that CAFOD can continue its work helping communities around the world gain better access to food. CAFOD supports communities in the longterm through training people in farming methods, and savings and loans schemes which can help people to start small businesses.
John said: “We are both Catholic and felt that given the dire situations in Afghanistan and Ukraine it’s really important to raise money for humanitarian charities like CAFOD.”
CAFOD’s events co-ordinator Neil Roper hailed the couple’s effort. He said: “Their impressive fundraising will make a real difference to ongoing work in communities across the world aiming to tackle the causes of hunger and malnutrition.”