Two local men have today (Wednesday 31 July) completed a 161-mile walk around the boundary of the Lake District National Park in aid of two local charities.
Gary Batey and Adam Baxter, who both work for the Rural Payments Agency, undertook the walk in memory of a friend a former colleague.
“In December 2017, our very good friend, Paul Irving, lost his valiant battle against Motor Neurone Disease (MND),“ said Gary and Adam.
MND is a group of diseases that affects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord preventing messages from the brain reaching the muscles. It affects up to 5000 adults in the UK at any one time.
“MND is a cruel disease with no known cure and to witness Paul succumbing to it was devastating for everyone that knew him.”
“Aged only 41, Paul sadly passed away in the Eden Valley Hospice in Carlisle. Before moving to the hospice, he and his family had incredible support from Hospice at Home. Both these organisations rely heavily on vital charitable donations from the general public.”
“In support of these organisations, their amazing staff and volunteers, we decided to undertake a walk to raise much needed funds and raise awareness of this condition in memory of our friend Paul.”
Paul loved the Lake District and Adam and Gary felt it fitting to encompass that in their walk. Setting off from Caldbeck on Friday 26 July, the two have walked the around the approximate boundary of the Lake District National Park. Taking 6 days to complete, the two were not put off by the storms of the past few days. The walk has meant averaging more than a marathon a day, including navigating some rough terrain and steep gradients.
Their route was:
Day 1: Caldbeck to Loweswater (29 miles)
Day 2: Loweswater to Ravenglass (25 miles)
Day 3: Ravenglass to Spark Bridge via Broughton-in-Furness (27 miles)
Day 4: Spark Bridge to Kendal (28 miles)
Day 5: Kendal to Hackthorpe (28 miles)
Day 6: Hackthorpe to Caldbeck (25 miles)
Gary and Adam have set up a JustGiving page to collect donations. This can be reached at http://bit.ly/lakescharitywalk
The pair said: “As we have been doing the walk, we’ve met some amazing people and been telling them about where we are going and why we are doing it who have then donated. Our sincere and heartfelt thanks to them, and anyone else who feels able to help our efforts to raise funds for two wonderful causes.”
