A Marathon-A-Day on the Pennine Way

This August I’m taking on a challenge to walk the Pennine Way in just 10 days. This famous 267 mile walk stretches from Edale, Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland. It’s going to be tough - I’ll be walking the equivalent of over a marathon every day.

Why am I doing this? Well, I love a challenge, but the main reason is that I’m raising funds for the Imagination Library - a charity which delivers a free book every month to children from birth to the age of five.

In Nottingham children can start school with reading skills 14% behind the national average. The Imagination Library is proven to change this. Children who get these monthly books are 28.8% more likely to be ready for school by their fifth birthday.

The Imagination Library ignites a love of books and helps children to develop early literacy skills such as listening, concentrating, talking about new ideas and using their imaginations. These are all skills children need in order to be ready to start school at age five. Ultimately the data shows that children who start school with these skills are more likely to leave school with better grades at age 16.

I’m hoping to raise £5340 - that’s the equivalent of £20 for each mile I walk. All donations will go towards helping more Nottingham children to benefit from the Imagination Library. Any support you can give is really appreciated:
• Just £2 pays for a child to get a new book
• £25 pays for a child to get a new book each month for a year
• £125 pays for a child to get a new book every month from birth until their fifth birthday

Please share and stay in touch - I’ll be tweeting as I walk so please follow me on Twitter at @cllrjoncollins and please do share this page on twitter or Facebook.

Thank you!

Councillor Jon Collins
St Ann's Ward Councillor and Leader of Nottingham City Council
Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth