Hi Everyone, 

Thanks for having a read of my fundraising page for the Motor Neurone Disease Assocation.

As some of you may know, Luke, Melzie, Tab & myself lost our Dad to MND in 1998, when I was 13 years old. 

Richard Stokes was a completely amazing man, and I hope some of you reading this knew him and can remember his vitality and enthusiasm for so many things (including walking!) which made him such a wonderful father and person. I'll be using all my incredible memories of him to help keep me going when it gets tough on the walk. 

MND is still relatively unknown, but it is a horrible degenerative illness which can strip away most of the quality of life from the sufferer, from mobility to speech, and unfortunately it is a terminal illness. I would like to try and raise as much money as I can to help current sufferers of it and their families. Raising money is also vitally important for research purposes as there is still no cure for MND. Hopefully one day there will be, and if I can contribute in some way to finding it, I will be a very happy hiker. 

So, why the 630 mile walk? Well, Dad instilled in me a love of the outdoors and nature and I think he would have liked the idea of it. My family have lived and holidayed in the South West all our lives so it holds a special place in my heart and I can't think of anywhere I'd rather take on this challenge.

From a selfish point of view, I get to hang out with Rudy, my beloved pooch for two months (althouth I probably won't be saying that after sharing a tent with her for weeks on end) and indulge my passion for exploring the countryside to the extreme! 

So the plan is:

3.9.2012: Set off from Minehead, Somerset...

and keep going for 630 miles around the coast of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Devon (again) and Dorset until I reach...

South Haven Point, Dorset 

Hopefully around 8 weeks later, all being well. If you don't hear from me, send out a search party!  

There are 45 days of walking and I shall probably need a rest day every week or so, depending on how hardcore I become. I shall try and post a link or map on this page of my route soon but I should be averaging about 14 miles a day.

I'm camping all the way round, except for some places where there isn't a campsite within walking distance of the path, where I'll allow myself the luxury of a B & B. 

Please give as generously as you can for this fantastic cause and feel safe in the knowledge I will be earning it in sand, sweat & tears!

Thank you very much in advance

Verity  

Blog of my training & fundraising:

www.thewalk3912.blogspot.co.uk