Youngsters take on grueling heat and walk 40 miles for St Mary’s Hospice

Here at St Mary’s Hospice we’re always grateful to anyone who fundraises for us. Earlier this month we were blown away by the amount of people that decided to take part in the Keswick to Barrow and Coniston to Barrow challenges.

We were even more thrilled to hear the two young people aged just 13 decided to take part in the challenge. On Saturday, May 11, nearly 3,000 people took part in the 40 mile and 20 mile challenge to raise thousands of pounds for various charities and beneficiaries.

But we wanted to give a special shout out to Jamie and Charlie Lackey who are both 13 and decided to test themselves by taking part in the walk. Jamie’s dad, Ryan told St Mary’s how proud he is of his son and nephew.

He said: “We all had our moments during the day where we found it difficult for a while, in particular my son Jamie who I think had to go through the pain barrier around Lowick. He then discovered that having a banana (4!) made him suddenly burst with energy and actually started running up a few hills over Kirby Moor. They were both a pleasure to walk with me and my brother Joel and we are extremely proud of them both. The heat certainly played its part in draining our energy however we made good use of the stops and St Mary’s helped massively in keeping us hydrated and fed.

“We chose St Mary’s as they gave incredible care for our Nanna Marian Birkbeck and both me and my brother will do as much as we can to support this incredible charity. They made her last few weeks of life comfortable and we as a family are forever grateful to the charity and staff for this.”