For some time, we’ve wanted to show our appreciation and raise money for West Cumberland Intensive Care Unit.

You may already know that Nick was seriously ill with Meningitis and Sepsis in autumn 2017 and again earlier this year, and on both occasions the West Cumberland Hospital helped Nick make a full recovery. They not only did this, the staff went above and beyond and were a shoulder to cry on when times got tough.

We‘ll never be able to fully show the hospital (in particular the ICU ward) how thankful we are for what they did for us, but we can return the favour in our own way and raise some money to hopefully go towards improving what already is a great hospital. We’re going to be splitting the funds we raise between the hospital and the charity leading the way in Meningitis care, Meningitis Now.

We’ve been thinking long and hard about what we can do, and a plan has now been hatched which involves our family in a sponsored walk from west coast to east coast. The walk starts in St Bees, on the west coast (a place close to our hearts) and finished in Whitby (East Coast).

Some of the family are quite young (starting from the age of 2) and we think it’s important that they all have the opportunity to take part. The 2 year olds do have a lot of energy, but we think it would be difficult to complete the 196 miles in one go, so the plan is to do it in relays.

Nige, Lynn, Jim, Esther, Mike, Katherine, Babs, Guy Joe and Fran (along with others) will all be doning their walking boots and taking on the challenge! And how could we forget the youngest members of the family, Finn and Mirren and our furry friends Cora and Bobby.

The walk will be completed over a number of weekends during the summer and will be completed by Autumn.

We appreciate all donations no matter how big or how small.

Abi & Nick