Anne (75) tackles Lake District trek for NSPCC

Anne (75) hoped to boost the contributions from the NSPCC branch in Fence, and when she and seven friends from the village and Pendle Walking Group set off on Saturday morning they will have already helped to raise £1,000 for the charity.

She mentioned her idea to her daughter-in-law, Wendy, managing director of Hillcare Homes care homes, and the company has now linked up with the NSPCC, raising cash between the generations.

“It has been fantastic,” said Anne. “Older people are helping younger people, and it is helping them to keep young.”

Much of the current activity has been in the North-East, where the company has new homes, and where Anne’s picture is featured on posters and collection buckets.

A JustGiving site has been set up to promote the walk and other fund-raising ventures and will continue in the foreseeable future.

The circular 22-mile hike around the Lake District on Saturday will take in Arnside, Silverdale and Carnforth, and end with a celebration birthday meal for Anne’s husband, Raymond. Never a walker, he will be providing transport for the day.

Former nursery nurse Anne has been a lifelong supporter of the NSPCC.

She first put on her walking boots shortly after she retired, when her son encouraged her to start climbing. Interest in her new pastime grew when she and Raymond moved from Yorkshire to their home in Wheatley Lane Road and became good friends with fellow walkers Maureen and Roy Thornborrow and she joined Pendle Walkers after seeing a poster in Fence Post Office.

A hip replacement operation 18 months put pay to strenuous walks, but only for a few weeks. “I walked as long as I could beforehand,” she said. “But you can’t go climbing stiles or walking over rough ground for 12 weeks afterwards. As soon as I got the all clear Maureen and I were out the next day.

“We wanted to raise as much as we could for the NSPCC because the work they are doing is more important than ever these days.”