Community champion and care worker completes non stop 11 hour charity walk at beauty spot popular with Burnley and Padiham families

And her amazing efforts have already raised £1,109 towards her £3,000 goal to fund a 'friendship bench.'

Vivien, who walked the length of the Padiham Greenway 15 times, has thanked all the people who joined her for moral support including friends Paul Metcalf and Anne and Bryan Wright.

Vivien said: "I am truly humbled by all the people who walked with me as I could not have done it without them."

Family and friends, including her husband Justin and mum, Irene Jacques, kept Vivien and other walkers going with cheese and onion pie and coffee. And they were there to give her a hero's welcome at the finish line.

And Pendle Street chippy donated fish and chips as tea-time treat for Vivien's amazing effort.

Vivien came up with the idea for the 'friendship' bench as somewhere for people to go on the Padiham Greenway as a place of retreat or if they need to speak to someone.

Many schools have these benches where a child can sit if they feel upset for any reason and their friends' instinct is to check they are ok. The bench will be inscribed and dedicated to suicide victims and the loved ones they have left behind.

Vivien, who has a son Dale and grandson Frankie (five) said: "The aim is that people see the bench as somewhere to go where they can sit and speak to a stranger if it helps them as it is important to talk.

"It would be absolutely amazing if we could raise the money to do this and hopefully more after it.

"So many people in the world are lost at the moment and more people than we could ever imagine are struggling with life, even though they may have many people in their lives and they may have beautiful families.

"Sometimes talking to a stranger on a day they feel unable to cope could be the difference between having the courage to face another day.

"Many people I know have daily struggles and sadly I have had people I love, and relatives of people I love and friends I have had in my life who found the struggle too hard to bear."

Well known for her outgoing personality and tireless efforts to help people in her hometown of Padiham, Vivien was thinking about the welfare and mental health of others before anyone had even heard the word covid.

2019 saw her successfully launch the Padiham Community Choir after she was touched by stories of many people who felt lonely or isolated due to circumstances or lack of cash.

Offering hugs to choir members to lift their spirits Viv hit on the idea of taking this to a wider audience and Hugs For Free was born. This saw caring Viv and her good friend and choir member, Katie Bourgaise, offer hugs to people to cheer them up, a simple idea that became a huge success.

The pandemic may have brought an abrupt end to both the choir and the hugs scheme but Viv, who works as a carer at Woodside Home for the Elderly in Padiham, is not a woman to be kept down and she was determined to reach out to people who may be struggling as lockdown tightens.

Anyone who would like to donate to Vivien's fund is askedt to click HERE