A Local man has raised nearly £6,000 for charity by completing four long-distance treks since 2017.
Tom Ayres has walked a total of 325 miles across the four challenges – some solo and others with friends – raising funds for Cancer Research UK, local cancer counselling charity We Hear You, The Sick Children’s Trust and a charity supporting children with diabetes.
“I like the idea of creating a challenge and pushing yourself to the limit, and I also like the endurance side of it where you have to really dig deep,” said Tom. “People can also relate to walking. I enjoy walking anyway, and it’s a nice way to see the local countryside.”
When Tom completed his first trek in 2017, he and some friends hiked along the Two Moors Way – a long-distance trail in Devon – raising money for a juvenile diabetes charity and local cancer counselling charity We Hear You.
He then completed a 102-mile trek along the Cotswold Way, just after lockdown in 2020, for Cancer Research UK. The solo trek started near Cheltenham and finished at Bath Abbey. “It was lovely to do this after lockdown,” said Tom. “For this trek, I raised funds for Cancer Research UK for personal reasons.”
Next, in 2023, Tom and friends took on the Jurassic Coast again for Cancer Research UK, and most recently, this year, he walked 50 miles with a friend, William Button, along the Mendip Way from Frome to Weston-super-Mare for The Sick Children’s Trust.
“We did it in 17 hours,” said Tom. “It was quite tough, but not too bad. We walked straight through. We had three breaks totalling about an hour. Our moving time was 16 hours, and we got back into Frome at 10pm.”
The Sick Children’s Trust provides accommodation to families with sick children in hospital. They have ten ‘Homes from Home’ across England, supporting families from around the UK. These are located in London, Cambridge, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle.
Tom, who has so far raised around £700 for the charity, said, “Friends of ours, Carley and Ian, have recently used the services this charity provides whilst their daughter Nancy was undergoing treatment, and are testament to how important their support is to families facing the toughest challenges.
“At the end of the trek we were both very tired – our legs have only just started to recover. We’ve been looking after them for the last few days with ice baths.”
Whilst Tom, a local heating engineer, has completed some of the hikes on his own, he said it is easier to walk with a friend.
“It is sometimes quite nice being by yourself to reflect on things and have time to yourself, but when you are with someone, you can both lift each other up when you are struggling and share the weight of what you are carrying. It’s also just quite nice to do with a mate.”
With his fourth trekking challenge completed, Tom will now be taking a break. He said, “We all have young families now – I have a two-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old boy – and I can’t spend long away from home. We might do something slightly shorter next year.”
To support Tom’s fundraiser for The Sick Children’s Trust, visit the JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/page/tom-will-mendip-way
