Pat's story

“Ted is extremely energetic, full of life and loves the outdoors. As a border collie he needs a lot of exercise and mental stimulation, so I am always looking for new things to do with him.

“We live in southwest London and whilst it is a lovely area, our walks can get a bit repetitive. We needed a bigger challenge!

“Initially, I thought about walking from London to Cornwall, where Ted is from, but that is a long way for a first challenge, so we decided to walk a more manageable distance and chose London to Brighton.

“We devised a dog-friendly route away from busy roads, walking along footpaths and bridleways, which Ted prefers. We did a lot of training beforehand, gradually increasing the distance we walked until we were walking up to 20-25 miles a day.

“The total distance of our final route was approximately 60 miles which we decided to walk over two days with one overnight stay about halfway.”

“As a family, we are very much indebted to the NHS.”

Pat

“As a family, we are very much indebted to the NHS. My 18-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and my eldest daughter was born very prematurely spending over three months in a neonatal unit.

“Both have received excellent care and support from the NHS.

“We set up a Just Giving page and had t-shirts and a new harness for Ted made with NHS branding to promote our walk. We had people stop us along the way to ask what we were doing and kindly donate.

“This was the first fundraising challenge I have done with Ted, and we are now planning our next which may take us from London to Canterbury. This will be around 80 miles and could take up to four days depending on our route. We will again be raising funds for the NHS as a thank you to the amazing people who work there.”