Deeside fundraising group planning to walk 180 miles from Durham to Shotton

A fundraising group based in Shotton are working on an initiative to get more people out walking during the current lockdown.

Shotton Walkers are a group of friends fundraising for chosen charities and are planning to do so for CALM and The Not Forgotten Association in aid of their work with people’s mental health.

The next walking event in question will be from Shotton Colliery in Durham back to Shotton in Deeside but due to the current lockdown restrictions the group are unable to do so.

At the beginning of last year, the group were able to raise over £8,000 for The Not Forgotten Association and Prostate Cancer UK with their ‘Holyhead to Hendys 48 Hour Challenge’.

On their fundraising efforts since the 48-hour challenge, Shotton Walkers member Pete Dodd said: “Since then we have raised over £1,800 for the charities for this campaign which are CALM and The Not Forgotten Association, which considering the restrictions is fantastic.

“We have managed to do this through raffles, Zoom bingo and football cards. A member of our group raised funds by running the virtual Chester half marathon and one of us completed Stoptober.

“We also arranged for Santa and his elves to visit some children in the local area (socially distanced of course) and deliver selection boxes for which we received a grant from Shotton Town Council for a lot of these.

“We felt this was a really important thing to do as we have had a lot of support from the community and to be able to give something back during these difficult times was important to us all.”

The aim for Shotton Walkers is to raise awareness of the impact lockdown has had on mental health and the positive benefits walking can have on people’s wellbeing.

CALM and the Not Forgotten Association are both suggested by the group as important outlets for people to use if they have been affected by the pandemic mentally.

Pete said: “We all believe CALM is such an important cause at the moment and most of us in the group first-hand have either struggled with mental health ourselves or have had someone close to us who has struggled.

“One of our group members lost a close friend through suicide a few years ago so it is a charity we can all really relate to.

“The Not Forgotten Association deals with loneliness within the ex forces community so we feel they fit hand in hand with CALM.

“We fundraised for them last year and were their biggest ever single donors – we actually attended one of their drive-in Christmas parties in December which allowed us to meet some of their team.”

He added: “We would like to thank everyone for their continued support through these tough times – it genuinely means a lot to us all. All of our supporters should keep their eyes peeled throughout the year for any events we may be able to hold that they can get involved in.”

To donate to the most recent Shotton Walkers fundraiser, visit here – https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=ShottonWalkers&isTeam=true.

For more info about the group, visit their Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/shottonwalkers or go to the website – https://shottonwalkers.co.uk/.

To receive help regarding mental health, visit CALM’s website – https://www.thecalmzone.net/help/get-help/ to find out more info on how to do so.

Alternatively, if you are a serving or former member of either The Royal Navy, The Royal Marines, The British Army, The Royal Air Force, The Merchant Navy, both Regular and Reserve Forces who is is wounded, injured or sick or are a veteran with a disability, illness or infirmity, visit https://thenotforgotten.org/how-we-help/getting-our-help/ to find out more ways to get help.

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By Jordan Adams