A man who hosts Christmas Day walks in the Lake District to tackle loneliness is on a mission to make them a tradition.
Jay Mistry, 39, of Huddersfield, has been organising Christmas Day walks for the past six years and is now aiming to keep them going for as long as he can.
After some trial and error years spent hosting walks up different fells, Jay has spent the past few years organising walks up Latrigg on Christmas Day and Catbells on boxing day.
In his very first year, he brought together a group of nine people to climb Scafell Pike, and last year, a total of 92 people walked up Latrigg on Christmas Day together.
It’s now an outing that over 600 people from across the country have taken part in over the years and it’s one that means both a lot to Jay and to the walkers taking part.
He said: “In 2019 I found myself on my own at Christmas, my folks were in their holiday home, my brother had moved abroad, so I thought there’s got to be more people like me.
“It is crazy how big it’s become since then, it’s grown every year and it’s something close to my heart, it’s a way of giving something back. I’m now hoping I can carry it on for as long as possible.
“But we get people from all over the UK coming, last year we had people from Devon, Surrey, Cornwall and Norfolk, so it’s not just locals, it’s people from all over.”
Last year, Jay almost made the decision to stop hosting the walks, after facing hard times in his personal life.
The 39-year-old’s mum Sandra, 61, died of liver cancer and Jay was also juggling working for his fast growing family-run environmental engineering business.
But he made the decision to keep the walks going to make a difference, knowing how much they mean to people.
He said: “Throughout the year I’ve bumped into so many people who have said things like your Christmas walk has changed me or helped me, so I thought this year I’d commit to doing it for as long as I can on Christmas and Boxing Day.
“We’ve had one lady who had just beaten cancer come along and I know a few people have started their hiking journeys from the Christmas walk as well.
“The response we get is huge and we’re getting a mix of people, it’s people on their own, people with children, couples, people with mobility issues, it’s special and really rewarding.
“I just thought, why not keep doing it? I have the chance to make a change in the world, why not carry on, I want to make it a tradition.”
Jay, who is a keen walker and mountain climber, said the Christmas walks are relaxed meet ups open to all who want some company over Christmas.
He added: “It fills most of the day and anyone can take part, even if you’re not fully mobile, you can come down the railway track and head back to meet at the pub later if you want to and we do have people who do that.
“It’s more like a group of friends meeting and people chat and enjoy themselves and get a drink later if they want to.
“I always feel inspired by the World War One Christmas truce, I think it’s nice knowing it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, you can turn up and walk and have that space to switch off and be around nice people.”
Both the Christmas Day Latrigg walk and Catbells Boxing Day walk start at 10am at Moot Hall in Keswick.
The Oddfellows Arms is also supporting this year’s walk and is putting on food and desserts for walkers and supporters.
Jay has climbed mountains across the world including in the Crown of Europe, Alps and more. He is also on his third round of the Wainwrights and loves walking in the Lake District.
Next year he will also take on a RAT Race Sea to Summit of Mount Fuji in Japan for his 40th birthday.
