MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow with walkers Hayley, Vanessa, Charlotte, Linda and Kelly EMN-210529-155142009MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow with walkers Hayley, Vanessa, Charlotte, Linda and Kelly EMN-210529-155142009
MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow with walkers Hayley, Vanessa, Charlotte, Linda and Kelly EMN-210529-155142009

18 mile walk in tutus raises money for Peterborough domestic abuse charity

Rising temperatures were not enough to prevent supporters of a Peterborough domestic abuse charity from completing a tough 18 mile walk on Saturday.

Living Keys provides free courses to support survivors, and its important work was bolstered by hundreds of pounds after a group of devoted women donned tutus before setting off from Morrisons in Lincoln Road to Spalding town centre, where they were met by family and friends.

The charity’s co-founder Linda admitted the walk was a “huge challenge, much bigger than I had expected,” with a huge sigh of relief when they completed the eight hour effort at around 6.30pm.

The group had been seen off from Morrisons by MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow.

Linda said: “Kelly and I are so proud of our ladies as we all managed to get to the end.

“The first 10 miles was great, however, the last eight miles was a struggle and Kelly being Kelly kept the morale up and led the way forward, determined to get everyone to the end.

“We walked through Glinton, Deeping Gate and then through onto the Spalding road. We stopped for very short breaks as we felt if we stopped for a while we would cease up so we had to keep going.

“The public were amazing and cars even stopped in the middle of the road to speak and gave towards our funding.

“Kelly and I would like to thank Paul Bristow for his support and his donation. We would also like to thank Chris Martin for meeting us and placing our event on a funding site.

“But most of all, we would really like to thank all those who completed the walk with Hayley, Charlene, Charlotte and Vanessa making it such a fantastic day, and we would also like to say a massive thank you to all those who had donated to Living Keys and invested their money into making a difference to the lives of those who have experienced domestic abuse.”

Kelly added: “We managed the 18 miles and although the last few became difficult I loved every minute of it.

“The girls were amazing and I’m so so proud of them. I really just want to say a massive well done to Hayley, Charlotte, Ness and Charlene for representing Living Keys and taking part.

“And thank you to Paul Bristow for his support and also to Claire Thomas at Happy Faces nursery for giving us the opportunity for use of the toilets and cold drinks and a bench to take a short break on that was very much appreciated.

“Finally, a massive thank you to all who donated and cheered us on at the multiple locations we passed through.”

So far, £540 has been raised on a gofundme page - https://gofund.me/96986795 - while more than £170 was raised during the walk with more money still to come in.

And the walking spirit has now been channelled by a band called Velocity, with men Craig, Olly and Ricky taking part in a similar challenge on Saturday, July 24, followed by a gig straight afterwards at the Post Office Sports and Social Club in Bourges Boulevard.

The group had been seen off from Morrisons by MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow.