John Peers Walks The Pennie Way

Rochdale hairstylist John Peers survived wind, rain and almost falling off as cliff to raise cash for the Robyn Brooks Trust’s fight against childhood cancer.

John and his walking partner Andrew Kusytch, who runs the Broadfield Hotel in Rochdale, trekked 273 miles along the Pennine Way from Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders to Edale in Derbyshire.

Both men feel a lot fitter having done the trek, but John has vowed to throw away the hiking boots after the long slog.

He said: “I’m never doing anything like that again, although I do want to do more sports and I think I’ll take up horse riding.

“On one day the rain was coming in sideways and although I wanted to carry on Andrew made me stop and change my clothes because I was soaked to the skin.

“Then near the end of the walk we were up Kinder Scout in Derbyshire when I realised we were walking towards the edge of a cliff so we had to turn back.

“Despite those problems we were determined to carry on because we didn’t want to let anyone down and we were very happy when we finished.”

John is still getting sponsorship money in and the final amount he raised will be posted here. Part of the cash he raises will go to the Forget Me not Appeal in Halifax, which is raising money to build a children’s hospice in Halifax.

Andrew was raising money for Springhill Hospice and is also planning a sportsmen’s dinner at the Broadfield Hotel in September which will raise money for the Robyn Brooks Trust and the hospice. More details on that will follow shortly.