Civic leaders in 92-mile walk to help charities
Three of Staffordshire's most familiar faces are to walk the length of the county to raise money for charities.
Former Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy, borough council leader Patrick Farrington, and council cabinet member for communities and health Jeremy Pert will walk the Staffordshire Way from Mow Cop, near the boundary with Cheshire, to Kinver Edge in the south.
They will do stretches of the walk together over eight separate days before the end of October.
The three hope to fill the gap left by the restrictions on fundraising activities due to the coronavirus.
They also hope it will highlight the expected increase in demand for services such as mental health support.
The 92-mile route takes in some of Staffordshire’s most scenic countryside, and funds raised will go to the Stafford Together community fund which helps small voluntary groups across the borough.
Stafford Together’s funds are administered by registered charity the Community Foundation for Staffordshire and distributed throughout the year to help smaller organisations which are run by volunteers.
The Community Foundation manages similar community funds across the county that help small and micro-sized voluntary groups that can’t afford professional fund-raisers.
The walk was the idea of Stafford Together chairman Jeremy Lefroy.
He said: “I have often wanted to walk the Staffordshire Way but never had the time before, so it seemed an ideal opportunity to tie the two elements of fundraising and walking together.
"The fact that I am being joined along the way will make it all the more special.”
Councillor Farrington added: “When Jeremy mentioned that he was going to walk the Staffordshire Way, encompassing many of the hidden gems that Staffordshire has to offer, whilst supporting the response to the pandemic, it seemed the obvious thing to do, although daunting nonetheless.”
Councillor Pert said the authority was encouraging walking to improve health and wellbeing.
"This seemed like a natural thing to take part in, whether I feel the same way throughout is a different story," he said.
"We are encouraging people and groups who might want to walk a mile or the whole day with us to get in contact to help us achieve our fundraising target of £5,000.”
Donations can be made on the website justgiving.com/fundraising/staffordshireway21.
Anybody wanting to join the trio on the walk can contact Councillor Pert on 07740 924659 or email jeremyp@jeremypert.co.uk.
