Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I am walking the South Downs Way with a small group of friends in aid of the Martlets Hospice in Hove. Two of my friends died in the hospice last year, Peter Leacock and Geoffrey Atkinson. The Martlets provides vital end of life care for the local community but the NHS only funds one third of its costs and it desperately needs funds. Any donation, no matter how small, would be hugely welcome.

As I write, the fields are covered in snow and more freezing temperatures are forecast. We start in less than a week and I must admit to being more than a little daunted as I am not a great walker (13 miles my max so far and several of the walks are longer than this) – so wish me luck!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

WALK UPDATE 15/2

We've now completed our first two days (13th and 14th Feb) and were so fortunate the snow and ice gave way to milder weather and even some sunshine! But, as the pictures show, there was still snow and ice about; and the mud was quite a  problem as we came up out of Exton on day 2.  But we all manged to stay on our feet (just!). 

The countryside was very beautiful under moody skies; and the views from the hills, on day two in particular, were wonderful - we could see the Isle of Wight quite clearly.  But the cold wind kept temperatures down in the main and stops were short and functional. 

We met some wonderful people - grandads with grandsons on half-term outings walking and fishing.  And even a family of walkers spending the half-term walking the Way (we envied them their camping stove on which they brewed tea as they perched on haystacks in a barn eating their lunch)!

In spite of our trepidation we all completed the two days fit and looking forward to the next three this weekend when Judith will be joining us. 

DAY 3 - Sunday 19 February - Queen Elizabeth Country Park to Cocking

We were blessed with sunny skies for much of this 13 mile section of the walk:  it was glorious winter-walking weather.  But on exposed ridges the wind quickly chilled us and kept our stops short! 

It was a wonderfully varied day from the beautiful woodland of the Queen Elizabeth Country Park and the Monkton Estate to quintessential downland lanes and the differently beautiful, bare and exposed downs of Beacon Hill and Cocking Down.  We had amazing views too of Chichester Harbour and the Isle of Wight and ships sitting off waiting for the tide. 

The five of us (Shirley, Dawn, Jacki, Judith and me) settled into a good walking pace with plenty of stops for catching our breath (very necessary on some of the climbs eg up Beacon Hill!).  We made it to Cocking in our target time and enjoyed the final caper through some very sticky mud into Cocking centre where Jacki had parked our waiting car, having been unable to find the A286 car park!