SPRINGHEAD Football Club manager Lee McAllister and former player Glyn Billington raised more than £10,000 on a 215-mile sponsored walk for a local cancer charity.
The pair spent nine days on foot after leaving Springhead FC bound for Wembley on Monday, September 26 in time for England’s Nations League game against Germany.
They raised money for The Ricky Casey Trust which wants to fund a clinical trial into the rare form of kidney cancer which claimed the life of Ricky aged 49.
And the £10,000 raised pushed the total past £100,000, a notable landmark, though they need £500,000 for the trial.
The pair were also looking to raise awareness of renal medullary carcinoma which is also known as RMC.
Management consultant Lee, 47, from Mossley and a trustee of the Trust, had trained up to 80 miles each week in readiness for the walk.
And Middleton-based Glyn, 49, who played alongside and against Ricky, needed no training as he is a postman with a daily round.
The pair were joined by about 20 others, family and friends, for the opening 27-mile leg from Springhead to Macclesfield.
And there was only one day when Lee and Glyn walked alone as they were joined by others along the route.
Nicola Casey, Ricky’s widow, completed the opening day and walked the last leg from St Albans to Wembley where they finished at the Bobby Moore statue and they were also met by football pundit Chris Sutton, the former England striker and Premier League title winner with Blackburn Rovers.
Lee and Glyn were joined by six others, including Ricky’s son Sheldon, for the last day.
And joining them at the start was Rugby League legend Kevin Sinfield who is a patron of the Trust.
At the time of departure, Lee and Glyn had raised £2,650 in sponsorship towards their £5,000 target, but by the end they had doubled it with about £800 collected along the route.
Glyn said: “We both struggled with blisters, and it was painful putting on our shoes in the morning.
“It was emotional, especially when we finished at the Bobby Moore Statue at Wembley.”
There was a poignancy as to the finish as England’s World Cup winning captain died of cancer in 1993 aged only 51.
There were also challenges, including walking on unlit roads on the first day when they didn’t finish until 10.30pm, and highways where there were no footpaths which required them being extra vigilant.
The pair were also joined for the entire journey by Andy Revill in a back-up van, and they thanked the following sponsors for their backong – Rigg Tech, Regatta Great Outdoors, Berghaus, Hilton Hotels and SJ Signs.
The route for the walk provided overnight stays in Macclesfield, Ilam, Burton-upon-Trent, Nuneaton, Rugby, Northampton, Milton Keynes and St Albans.
You can still donate online at donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/walk-to-wembley
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