MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE: Walkers on the march for Heroes

Geoff Hall, Rene Close, Jamie Bowler, Stuart Wardman and Liam Ansty are set to raise £6,000 for Help For Heroes from their efforts.

Already £2,500 has been collected online with further sponsorship money pledged, while bucket collections held along the route and at the finishing destination of The Fairways, raised £1,877.67.

Starting off at Newcastle United’s St James’s Park, the quintet covered 150 miles taking a route through Darlington, Thirsk. York and Doncaster back to north Nottinghamshire.

“The hardest leg was from Thirsk to York where we had to take a detour because the rain was so heavy and it became dangerous walking along the A19,” said Geoff.

“There were also a few sore knees and blisters, but we were all pretty determined to make it and helped each other through.

“We got a fantastic reception when we got back, with more than 200 people there to greet us. It took about 15 minutes to get four paces to the bar with everyone patting us on the back and shaking our hands!”