Two Wiltshire men will spend five days walking the region’s famous White Horse Trail to raise funds for Prospect Hospice - the area’s palliative care centre. And, just to make the trip a little more challenging, they’ll be carrying racquets, balls and a net to play a game of mini-tennis at each horse along the way.

Mark Butler, whose wife Jo recently passed away after being cared for by Prospect nurses, and his fellow Pewsey Tennis Club playing partner Mike Hutchinson begin the 93-mile hike on Wednesday August 14. They’ll complete their marathon - aptly named the Jo Kehoe Memorial Walk for Prospect Hospice - by the end of that week.

Support crew will be drawn from friends and fellow Pewsey Tennis Club stalwarts who plan to join them for some of the walk and form a guard of honour to herald the men’s return to the club courts on the final day of the epic endeavour.

Mark says the idea to visit the area’s eight white horses - each cut into the chalk hillside at various times between 1742 and the start of the 21st century - came in the wake of his wife Jo’s passing.He wanted to thank Prospect Hospice in a meaningful way for the care she received at home in the weeks leading up to her death.