Emplas’ Mike Crewdson will attempt to complete the 192 mile Coast to Coast walk across the North of England in just eight days to raise £10,000 for St Ann’s Hospice in Manchester.
Taking on the challenge in the memory of his late wife, Rosemary Crewdson, Mike will set out on the second anniversary of her death on 21st May.
Following in the footsteps of the great fell walker, Alfred Wainwright, whose guides made the route famous, Mike will leave St Bees on the Irish Sea, passing through the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks to arrive at and Robin Hood’s Bay on the North Sea on the 29th.
This means that he will complete the equivalent of seven-and-a-half marathons on consecutive days, with the aim of raising enough to cover one-day’s hospice running costs.
Mike, Emplas’ sales and marketing director, said: “Rosemary passed away at St Ann’s in 2012 following a period of illness, receiving exceptional care throughout. It is my hope to raise £10,000 in donations to the hospice, which will cover one day’s running costs in full.
“A lot of people will remember Rosemary from my Profile 22 and Emplas days and I hope the industry will join me in supporting a very worthy charity.”
Taking him through some of the country’s most picturesque and dramatic landscapes the route climbs from sea level to almost 2,600ft at Kidsty Pike in the Lake District.
“It’s a pretty demanding route,” said Mike “because you’re not climbing on a gradual ascent and coming down again, there are lots of hills to climb up and down in between. The distance isn’t the real challenge it’s the up and down along the way!”
,The east to west Coast to Coast walk was devised by Wainwright in 1972 as an alternative to the north-south Pennine Way. The Coast to Coast, he declared in his guidebook, ‘puts the Pennine Way to shame” for scenic beauty, variety and interest.’
Mike is himself no stranger to the creation of walks and in particular those in aid of charity. In 1997, he was one of the organisers of ‘The 50’, which saw 50 industry representatives join forces for a charity walk between Liverpool and Manchester, raising £50,000 for the children’s charity Across.
He was also the organiser of the ‘Network Walk’, an industry four mile walk/’pub crawl’ around the centre of Manchester, which raised more than £20,000 in support of Gary Morton’s fundraising efforts for the children’s hospice, Hope House.
“£10,000 isn’t a huge amount of money but it will make a real difference to an exceptional organisation and the critical care service it offers. I am absolutely certain the industry will step up in offering St Ann’s our support and would like to take the opportunity to thank them in advance for doing so. It means a lot to me and I know that it would have meant a lot to Rosemary.”
To make a donation please visit www.justgiving.com/Mike-Crewdson
Alternatively if you would like to join Mike on all or part of his journey please email mike.crewdson@emplas.co.uk or alternatively call 01933 674880. There will be a number of walkers from across the industry, many for a day or two, so plenty of laughs will be expected along the way.
