Matt's walk raises £10,000 for Weldmar

Weldmar's fundraising director's raised £10,000 for the charity by walking from Devon to Dorset in less than 24 hours.

Matt Smith was up for around 40 hours to complete the challenge, and was walking on crutches when he arrived back in Dorchester.

He set off with his dad Steve and expedition leader Jon Forman at 8pm onFriday 4th September from Ladram Bay in Devon and crossed the finish line at Weldmar's Inpatient Unit at 6:50 pm the day after

Matt devised the challenge in memory of both his grandad and his aunt Caroline, both of whom passed away at the hospice in the past twelve months. It's also the twentieth anniversary year of Matt's aunt Geraldine being cared for by Weldmar.

Matt said:

"I'm very proud, it was much tougher than I expected, to be honest. Some of the terrain that was incredibly challenging.

"We had a great team behind us, and that's what got us to the finish line. It's been delightful to see so many people coming out to support us, here at the finish line at the IPU.

"Most of all, it has been great to raise so much money for a fantastic cause."

At one point, nurses from the hospice were rushed out to the group to get Matt some crutches due to some pain developed in his feet.

But, he says that wasn't the hardest part.

"The toughest part was walking through the night, so I think in the end we were up for about 40 hours in total without any sleep.

"Walking for 9 hours through the dark with just your head torch as your light, was really difficult and psychologically to keep going was quite tough."