Pastor bears cross with a smile

Vince Welland and Rev. Phil Ingram with their 10ft cross before they set off on their 24 hour walk.

The Rev. Phill Ingram and church member Vinnie Yelland walked non stop for 24 hours carrying a 10 foot cross, the first time this has ever been attempted in this area. Setting off from their place of worship, Living Hope Church in Brierfield on Saturday morning the duo walked through Nelson, Colne, Earby, Blacko, Barrowford, Fence, Higham, Read, Padiham and Burnley.

They came up with the idea to raise awareness of an international project run by a charity called Open Doors to end persecution of Christians worldwide.

And they got the “thumbs up’’ from the majority of people who were intrigued to know about their mission, according to Phill.

He said: “So many people came up to us and were very supportive of what we were doing which made it all worthwhile. We had a couple of people passing in vans making negative comments but on the whole people were very supportive of what we were trying to achieve.

“We covered 50 miles and it was hard going at times but we loved doing it.’’

Roadside donations amounted to around £32 from supporters and the duo are hoping that other donations will come flooding in.