A COUPLE from Bude are raising money for charity by walking the UK coastline.
Antony and Sally Brown set off on their journey on May 15, 2023, with ambition of walking a total of 6,000 miles around the English, Welsh, and Scottish coastline,
They are undertaking the mammoth trip with the aim of raising money for the RNLI, Cornwall Air Ambulance and Parkrun.
Over the last 250 days, Antony and Sally have made their way to RNLI lifeboat stations across the country. Speaking to the Post about what prompted this mammoth task, they explained: “From the age of 11 Antony had wanted to walk the Cornish Coast, we achieved this together in 2015, walking 312 miles in just two weeks.
“At the end of the Cornish adventure, we wanted to plan something much bigger, so we decided to go for the entire British coastline.”
Despite this being one big adventure, the pair wanted to make sure the challenge was able to do some good.
“We couldn’t just walk for ‘fun’, so we decided that RNLI would be a perfect charity to fundraise for,” they continued.
The couple were particularly keen to visit the lifeboat stations around the coasts as they passed them on their journey.
They added: “We’ve always lived by the sea and thought it would be great to visit all of the lifeboat stations as we walked around the coast.
“We also chose Cornwall Air Ambulance as it is a vital rescue service for the county and relies totally on donations.
“Finally, we chose park run as it is a great free weekly timed run/walk that anyone can take part in, we wanted to put something back into parkrun as we’ve enjoyed participating so much over the past decade.”
Despite having completed some treks previously, walking the Southdowns Way, the Cotswolds Way, and around Cornwall, this is the longest walk the Antony and Sally have ever undertaken, and it certainly hasn’t been without its memorable moments.
“There have been highs and lows. The walk started well with six weeks of fantastic weather in May and June 2023. There then followed the wettest July on record and the hottest September.
“We’ve walked through ten named storms during the winter, five months of which we spent walking around Scotland.
“The scenery has at times been amazing, but without the fantastic people who have helped us on the way we wouldn’t have made it this far.
“The worst moment was when Antony fell and dislocated his little finger in Anglesey, we weren’t sure if it was broken or not so had to take a trip to Bangor A&E, after an eight hour wait the finger was finally popped back into place.”
However, despite the lows experienced during the trip, a highlight of the trip was when the pair were able to attend their daughter’s wedding.
“In terms of the walk, the stand out moment was actually taking our first break after walking solidly for 79 days, we drove from Cumbria to Sussex to attend our Daughter’s wedding.
“It was an amazing day and after being so focussed on the walk for almost three months it was quite surreal to be in such different surroundings.”
So far, the challenge has raised more than £9,000 across their three chosen charities,
However, the couple hope to raise even more before they return to their starting point of Bude RNLI Station.
Donations can be made via Sally and Antony’s JustGiving pages: linktr.ee/ukcoastwalk