Husband and wife complete Lands End to John o'Groats challenge for Shropshire reading charity
A husband and wife walked 1,3000 miles across the country to raise thousands for three charities close to their hearts.
Steve and Juliet Gibbon walked from John o'Groats to Land's End in May this year, a distance of 1,320 miles.
They pair have now tallied up their fundraising and have raised a total of £3,525 for three charities.
One is Read Easy Shropshire Hills which provides free 1-1 coaching to adults who want to learn how to read.
Steve has been a volunteer there for years and says giving adults the chance to read is all about freedom and social mobility, and all the volunteers are really passionate about helping others.
The charity matches up each new reader with a trained reading coach and they work at their own pace without pressure through a reading programme.
Steve and Juliet headed off on their cross-country adventure on May 10 this year and said it was an experience like no other.
"It's an amazing challenge," Steve said. "You can't really explain it until you've done it. You go places you have never been before.
"You know your destination and have a map, but everything along the way is a real adventure. It was a great thing to do.
"You are really completely detached from normal life when doing it."
The couple split the total between three charities.
Steve explained why: "I volunteer for Read Easy and my wife volunteers for Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) – they help small family farms who might be in crisis.
"We also chose Children in Need because our son had his leg amputated when he was young and they did a lot to support us."
On Wednesday, Steve and Juliet presented a check of £1,175 to Read Easy Shropshire Hills who had a stand in Ludlow Library during Libraries Week.
Visit https://readeasy.org.uk/groups/shropshire-hills/ to get in touch.
