Ten friends who met whilst working at the Betty’s bakery in Harrogate are taking on a challenge of walking three million steps in September after being inspired by a colleague who was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
David Smith, 55, was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma tumour in March this year.
The challenge is part of the Yorkshire Brain Tumour Charity’s Step into September campaign, where supporters ‘walk, jog, dance or climb’ to raise funds for research and patient support.
Throughout the month, the colleagues and ex-colleagues will aim to walk as many steps as possible in an attempt to raise £2,000.
They hope to do most of the steps on Saturday, September 17, when they will walk 20km around Roundhay Park in Leeds.
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The walkers have been getting their steps across the local area, including in the Crimple Valley (photos: Yorkshire Brain Tumour Charity)
Gemma Pickup, Mr Smith’s manager at Betty’s, said the group wanted to continue raising funds after the challenge.
The group’s ‘Do it for Dave, do it for Yorkshire’ idea is for the three million steps to be just the first challenge out of 20, with baking, fishing and swimming all on the agenda.
Ms Pickup said:
“I came up with ‘Do it for Dave, Do it for Yorkshire’ because Dave has been lacking motivation recently.
“Dave will have worked at Bettys for 20 years in September and we have all known him that long, so I came up with the idea of 20 challenges in 12 months to try and give him something to aim for and also a chance for people to reconnect with him and make some fun memories.”
The Yorkshire Brain Tumour Charity works to support brain tumour patients of all ages and their families across Yorkshire.
The charity has funded research at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust and at the Universities of Hull and Sheffield.
Over 1,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumours across the Yorkshire and the Humber region each year. Around 10% of those diagnosed are under 18 years old.
Ripon soldiers in Cyprus to undergo mammoth charity challengeA team of Ripon-based soldiers are rowing and cycling the equivalent distance from Cyprus to the UK to raise money for a men’s mental health charity.
21 Engineer Regiment has been in Cyprus since April as part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force. They’ve been carrying out patrols on the buffer zone that runs between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Whilst there, they have decided to raise funds for men’s mental health charity CALM.
They will use a combination of static bikes and rowing machines and plan to cover the 4,338 kilometres from their base in Nicosia all the way back to the regiment’s headquarters in Ripon.
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Spr Parker from the regiment said:
“Fitness is very much part of our daily lifestyle and so combining such challenges to highlight an important cause works really well for me.
“Mental health is hard to face, but for some reason it’s even harder with young men. In society I feel mental well-being among men is often not taken seriously enough or just overlooked”.
The link to donate is: https://www.justgiving.com/team/Road2Ripon
Terminally ill Harrogate man to scale SnowdonA Harrogate man with motor neurone disease is to scale Snowdon to raise funds for Leeds Hospitals Charity and the MND Association.
Ian Flatt, 56, was diagnosed with the terminal illness in 2019 and needs a ventilator for 16 hours a day.
Despite his diagnosis, he’s already completed two 100-mile trips to raise money for a new state-of-the-art MND facility in Leeds.
His latest challenge will see him ascending the highest mountain in Wales, which is 1,085 metres tall and the equivalent of climbing 4,610 steps.
The Leeds-based hospital charity is raising money to build a new Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease at Seacroft Hospital, where both men are cared for.
The former Leeds Rhinos player Rob Burrow MBE has become an ambassador for the disease since his own diagnosis in 2019.
Mr Flatt said:
“The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease is very important to us as a family. We’re passionate about supporting other families going through this difficult disease.
“The support of the team at Leeds and their specialist help is so crucial for us to live as well as we can as a family. Whilst my mobility, dexterity and respiratory functions are failing, my sense of adventure remains intact.”
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Mr Flatt’s wife, two daughters and around forty friends will be joining him on the Snowdon trek. Staff from both the MND Centre and Leeds Hospitals Charity will also be climbing the mountain.
The charity’s appeal has raised £2m of the £5m needed to build the new centre.
To donate visit: https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/ian-flatt-whats-your-mountain
120 marathons in 120 days: Harrogate man completes epic trekA Harrogate man crossed the finish line today after completing a mammoth challenge of 120 marathons in 120 days.
Graham Wilson, a retired police constable, found well-earned relief at Harrogate sports bar The Den after 3,180 miles.
Before setting off, Graham had raised more than £40,000 for 15 charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, British Heart Foundation, Saint Michael’s Hospice and Harrogate Homeless Project.
He hopes to reach his goal of £50,000.
Speaking after he crossed the line, he said:
“I’m emotional, it’s been three years of hard work and training and it’s just sort of come to an end suddenly. We’ve had a terrific journey all over the UK and the welcome in Harrogate was just amazing.”
Check out our Facebook live to see him crossing the line.
Graham Wilson and his wife Marion
Graham has walked 26 miles every day for four months, with his wife Marion and dog Tilly supporting him from the sidelines.
The pandemic delayed his challenge by 15 months and meant he couldn’t stick to his original plan of including marathons in Europe.
He added:
“I retired from the police and needed something to do. We’ve always been in to long-distance walking so we set a map of where we wanted to go.
“Initially we should have been going to Europe for 44 days and doing extra but we couldn’t. We made the best of a bad situation and came up with a plan.
“The first and last was always going to be in Harrogate.”
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Graham was a police officer for nearly 30 years and raised funds for charities before retiring.
Bex Moorhouse, a former colleague and Harrogate police officer, who was there to support him today, said:
“We all just feel super proud of him. He’s just so humble, to speak to him about what he’s done it’s just like he hasn’t done anything but it’s huge. This morning he was smiley Graham as usual and we are all just super proud of him for keeping going.
“He’s said some mornings Marion has had to kick him out of bed but he’s doing it for the charities and that’s keeping him going.”
To donate to the challenge click here.