My name is Bob Dickman, and I live in a 1713 remote old school house in Bampton, Cumbria, on the Fells on the N.E. side of the Lake District. I retired in 1995 after working for a Tractor Manufacturer Massy Ferguson after 43 years, travelling to 110 different countries during that time. In September 2000 after my wife died, that year , myself, family , and friends decided to walk the whole of the Coast to Coast walk of 200 miles from St Bees (Cumbria) to Robin Hood’s Bay (Northumberland) where we raised over £11,000 for research into Leukaemia. Now 20 years later, I decided at the age of 88, to further my ambition to raise money for the Great Northern Air Ambulance Service, which covers a large area of four counties, providing a vital front line service and link to the NHS hospitals in this area, ferrying sick and injured people in this Region. Periodically the Air Ambulance helicopter use the only flat field on the other side of my house to land and pick up the sick passengers.
To raise funds for a voluntary organisation like the Air Ambulance, I started to walk one mile a day from the 6th March 2020 using a section of the Coast to Coast footpath which is close to my house, and so far have completed 73 miles, with 127 still to go, which I plan to complete the full 200 miles by 21st September 2020. I do hope raising money for this most worthy community/NHS service will be able to continue well after the current emergency is over, and that people will know that their support is there in times of need to keep them safe. Bob Dickman.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) rescues hundreds of severely injured or ill patients every year throughout the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria. Their doctor-led critical care teams deliver life-saving treatments at the scene of the incident whether that is on a fell top, a roadside or in a city centre. The charity responded to 1,640 call outs last year* alone, via their helicopter and emergency response vehicles, where they performed treatments and procedures which can mean the difference between life or death.