Local residents are being urged to join in The Big Walk from Melksham to Bath, to help raise funds for counselling support for young people and to bring cancer treatment closer to home.
The Big Walk will take place along the Kennet and Avon Canal on Saturday 13th September to raise money for Hope for Tomorrow and Melksham Extended Services.
A small team from Asda and the Co-op have joined up with Wiltshire Council and the two charities to organise the event.
Cllr Jon Hubbard has warmed up for the event with a 17.5 mile walk and a 16.5 mile walk on a treadmill outside Sainsbury’s and the Co-op recently. He said, “These are two amazing charities that need to be protected and continued. We hope that the money raised by sponsorship for The Big Walk will create some much-needed funding, so please come and join us on the day. You don’t have to walk the whole distance and there will be a break in Bradford on Avon for those only wanting to do part of the walk.”
The group is hoping to raise £5,000 for each of the two charities. This money would pay for a year’s provision for Melksham Time to Talk counselling service, an oversubscribed service.
Hope for Tomorrow is hoping to raise as much money as possible for their mobile chemotherapy units. Claire Cosgrove from Hope for Tomorrow said, “It costs £12,000 a year to fund one mobile chemotherapy unit. We are hoping to keep two units in Wiltshire so £5,000 will help a lot with this. Events like The Big Walk is what keeps our charity going as we have no funding from the government. These units save patients so many miles of travel and the stress of hospital parking for themselves and their carers.”
You can register to take part online at www.thebigwalk.org.uk
