News, Peterborough
Five football fans are counting cash and blisters after walking more than 100 miles for charity.
Stockport County supporters Dave Thompson, Jamie Reding, Steve Cunningham, Eddie Owen and David Wardle made a four-day Easter trek which has raised more than £9,000.
They watched League One County play at Peterborough United on Good Friday, then trooped to Stockport in time to watch their team entertain Huddersfield Town on Easter Monday.
Their trip took them through six counties, and each walker clocked up around 250,000 steps.
‘Brutal’
The men made the walk to raise money for three charities based in the north-west of England – Mentell, a mental health charity aimed at men; Pure Insight, which supports people who have been in care; and Kits By County, a Stockport County scheme which aims to provide free PE kits to children.
Mr Thompson described the trek as “brutal as expected” – but Mr Wardle said the “thought of raising money” for three “amazing charities” had spurred them on.
They said they had a “collection of aches, pains and blisters” and more than £9,000 in the kitty.
Mr Thompson’s son, George, took his own life in 2021 at the age of 18, after struggling with mental health issues.
In 2023, Mr Thompson, a photographer, organised a 24-hour boxing marathon to raise funds for Mentell, which he said had helped him through “the darkest of times”.
But he said the Easter fundraising effort was not just “about George”.
Mr Thompson said the club and its supporters had been “incredible” and he wanted to “give something back to the Stockport County community”.
