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Barbara Burton gave herself a challenge at the start of 2023 that she would walk 1,000 miles over 12 months and raise money for St Luke’s Hospice.

And a year later Dore-based Barbara and family pet Sid the Shih Tzu have completed the challenge and raised £700 for St Luke’s patient services.

“I think the thing that really started me off was when I lost another member of my family,” Barbara explained.

Barbara has completed her 1,000 mile walking challenge in support of St Luke's Hospice

“My sister had died in 1989, then my father died in 2007, my mum in 2015 and then my brother died in 2022.

“It was quite a shock when my brother died and it hit me really hard that with him gone I was the last surviving member of the family I had grown up with.

“That’s when I decided I wanted to something to honour them all and because I live quite locally, I decided to support St Luke’s.

“I’ve always attended St Luke’s events and I’ve played the St Luke’s Lottery for several years so this was just one more way to support a really good cause and give something back.”

The aim was to cover an average 2.7 miles per day, though Barbara quickly realised that sometimes she would walk much further without even noticing – reaching the 1,000 mile mark slightly ahead of schedule before the end of the year.

“I’d walk anywhere I was planning to and I did spend a lot of time in Millhouses Park and a lot of the time, Sid was my companion, though I did do quite a lot with my husband too,” Barbara said.

“I really enjoyed it, my son created me a spread sheet so I could keep track of how I was doing and my iPhone made it easy by counting all my miles.”

There is still time to support Barbara’s 1,000 mile challenge by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/page/barbara-burton-1691999433439

Barbara raises £700 with her 1,000 mile walking challenge