On the 26th May 2019, 11 friends are setting out to walk the last 100kms of the Camino Way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. 5 years ago one of our precious gang of lifelong friends was taken from us by an aggressive cancerous brain tumour. Antonio Perera, Tony to us, had been one of our nearest and dearest since schooldays. Tony's death left a huge void in our lives and we miss him dearly. So, as we are spending this year celebrating our 50th birthdays, we wanted to find a special way to include him.

Our motivation for walking more than a half marathon everyday for five days at our grand old age, is to raise funds for St Luke's Hospice in Kenton, they nursed Tony and cared for us all in his final days. St Luke's gave Tony comfort and dignity as he drifted away from us. The staff gave us all the chance to spend Tony's final days as he would have wanted, together with his family. No matter how many of us arrived, there was always a warm welcome from the team at St Luke's.

As none of us are elite athletes, the training has begun already. We are putting in the hours of pavement pounding in an attempt to prepare us for the physical challenges ahead. We are looking forward to sharing old memories and making make new ones, as we celebrate our 50th birthdays' and Tony's, after decades of friendship. We hope that you might consider sponsoring us to help raise essential funds for St Luke's hospice so they can continue their amazing work.

We will always remember our precious friend and especially as we walk to celebrate friendship and life.

Many thanks

Helen, Roger, Carm, Alex, Ali, John, Julie, Anne Marie, Tom, Jacqui and Ian xxx