100km, 24hours, and a target of £10k – We're all backing you Gareth!

Managing Director Gareth Higgins is about to embark on another massive charity challenge, covering 100km in 24hours!

Gareth and fellow ramblers, Gary Mellor (Beswicks Legal), Nathan Walton (TeDaisy), Rob Hope (Sabit Engineering), Paul Franklin (HSBC) and Paul Staley (Wise Living) are raising money for the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.

The "Walk of Hope", as the challenge is named, begins at 4pm on Tuesday 7 June at the Thames Barrier in London and covers 100km (68.6 miles) of the Thames Path, finishing in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Usually completed over four days, the team is aiming to finish by 4pm on Wednesday 8 June, meaning a pace of 5km per hour will need to be maintained constantly.

The group, who took up long distance walking together during the pandemic, aim to raise £10,000 for the North Staffordshire Hospice and at the time of writing were at £6,700.

Donna Adams, Head of Fundraising at Dougie Mac said: "We are extremely grateful to Gareth and the team for taking on such a big challenge to raise money for Dougie Mac. We rely hugely on the support of the local community to raise the money we need to continue our care services for local families. Last year we amalgamated The Donna Louise Children's Hospice into Dougie Mac, which means that in addition to caring for adults, we also support local children and young adults living with life-limiting conditions, and their families.

"The money raised through this fantastic challenge will help us to continue our wide range of specialist care services at our two hospice sites and across the local community. We wish the team lots of luck and on behalf of all the families who will benefit from their fundraising, we'd like to say a massive thank you."

Gareth is no stranger to a charity challenge. In 2018 he took part in the Tower to Tower challenge which raised a whopping £300k for The Donna Louise Children's Hospice.

The Tower to Tower challenge is no mean feat, with challengers travelling from Paris to London via bike, boat and foot.

The Walk of Hope is part of KMF's bid to raise £50k for the Dougie Mac this year. A schedule of events are planned to help Gareth achieve that target including a Murder Mystery night in October and he's also aiming to complete the Great Glen Canoe Trail next April.

To sponsor Gareth and his team for the Walk of Hope, visit:

www.justgiving.com/team/thewalkofhope

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/100kmwalkofhope

and follow KMF on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for updates on the team's progress on the 7th and 8th.

The Dougie Mac have put a page on their website for the Walk of Hope challenge tracking: https://dougiemac.org.uk/walk-of-hope/ so that our supporters can track the progress of the walk.