Seventy-two-year-old Lincolnshire man takes on 109-mile challenge for charity

Mike, who is a retired insurance broker and Methodist Preacher from Winterton, North Lincolnshire, decided to take on the 109-mile Cleveland Way to raise money for the work of international development agency Christian Aid

The 72-year-old explained: “The Cleveland Way is most often walked over nine or 10 days but I wanted to make a worthy challenge of this by walking it in five-and-a-half days – one day would be 25 miles and two days 21 miles.

“House to house collections for Christian Aid - which I was involved with along with friends in Winterton - were not revived here after the pandemic, and since then we've been trying other ways of fundraising.”

Mike is no stranger to long distance challenges, having walked Coast to Coast in 2022 as a fundraiser to boost local Christian Aid contributions.

He said one of the most memorable days of the Cleveland Way was his longest walk of 25 miles, mostly along the North Yorkshire coast.

“I met a man at Runswick Bay who was clearly himself a regular walker,” Mike said. “When he learned I'd walked 17 miles that day and I was on my way to Whitby, eight miles further on, he suggested I take a bus and return to walking the next day. Assuring him I was up for the full journey - couldn’t let my sponsors down - he replied ‘Oh well, you're younger than me.’ When I asked him his age he told me he was 72. I laughed and shook his hand, saying, ‘So am I’.”

Mike has raised more than £2,500 which will go towards projects Christian Aid is funding, run by local partners in countries around the world.

Christian Aid supporters help millions of people in the most vulnerable communities transform their lives. Last year (2023), the organisation reached 3.3 million people through 275 programmes, from savings and loans associations to farming co-operatives, and climate disaster risk training to healthcare schemes.

To find out more, please go to Christian Aid at www.christianaid.org.uk .