The sky’s the limit for charity walkers

Two drivers from local bus company Arriva Yorkshire are hopingto raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity this summerwith an eight day walk from St Bees Head, Cumbria, to Robin HoodBay, North Yorkshire.

Richard Chapman and David Appleyard will be starting the walkfrom coast to coast on the 2 July finishing on the 9 July, coveringa total of 189 miles. This amazing feat has been carried outpreviously in 9 days, this time the walkers, who are members of'The Sloggers and Slurpers' walking club, will be looking tocomplete the distance in just 8.

As part of the fundraising drivers from Arriva's Dewsbury Depotwill be holding a raffle which will be open to the general public.They will also be carrying out collections at local supermarkets,where they will be packing customers' shopping bags in exchange fordonations.

Yorkshire's Air Ambulance Service is almost entirely funded byvoluntary donations and with operating costs of approximately£1.3 million per year the walkers wanted to show theirsupport for this great cause.

David Appleyard said:

We are really looking forward to the walk, it is goingto be hard work, especially as the kit we are carrying weighs over27kg. We are going to be completely alone out there but we havebeen training hard and we are positive it's going to be a greatsuccess.

Richard Chapman added:

We have been told that we should dip our feet in theIrish Sea at the start and in the North Sea at the end. They'rereally going to need a soak at the finish, so it sounds like agreat idea to me!

Paul Gowland, fundraising director for the Yorkshire AirAmbulance, said:

We are very proud that Arriva Yorkshire employees havechosen to support us. It's a perfect, local partnership and we lookforward to the event being a great success. We are always astoundedby the enthusiasm and support we receive from members of thecommunity.

Sponsorship forms are available from Dewsbury Travel Centre.

Ends

Note to editors

• The Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which is based at Leeds/BradfordAirport, costs £1.3m a year to run (£3,500 a day) andrelies predominantly on voluntary donations.
• It has been saving lives across the county since October 2000,during which time it has flown more than 5,000 missions andtransported more than 800 people to hospital.
• With a maximum speed of 154mph, no winding lines or trafficjams to contend with, the air ambulance can fly patients to aspecialist treatment centre within minutes.
• Anyone who would like to help with fundraising or make adonation, should call the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity office on0845 120 6060.