Finnán plans Hadrian’s Wall mission

A GLANDORE man and his fiancée are undertaking an eight-day walk across England to raise money for a mental health charity.

Finnán Tobin who now lives in Walthamstow, London and Grace Driver are preparing to walk the Hadrian’s Wall Path, a national trail in the UK that stretches for 135km across the north of England.

‘We will be starting in Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria and finishing eight days later on April 27th in Newcastle on the other side of the country,’ said Finnán.

Grace’s stepsister Bea lost her life to suicide last year, and the couple are doing the walk in her memory. Her dad also lost his sister Susan in the same way when she was 18.

‘We’re hoping to raise awareness around mental health, and to raise money for Mind, a mental health charity in England and Wales. Mind offers support to people struggling with mental health problems and campaign on their behalf,’ he said.

The amount the couple will walk daily is going to vary – their longest day’s walk will be over 30km.

‘We’ve purposely left ourselves a bit of extra time so that we can take in some of the Roman forts and camps along the way. We’ll be camping most days, save for the last couple of nights as we get closer to Newcastle and the landscape will start getting more urban. We’re keeping everything crossed for dry weather!’ said Finnán.

Last year Finnán walked the Pilgrim’s Way from London to Canterbury, which took him seven days. They’ve both done multi-day hikes before, and have hiked a number of mountains together, including Carrauntoohil, Ben Nevis, and Yr Wyddfa.

He concluded: ‘Take care of yourselves, ask for help when you need it, and check in with your friends. A walk is always good too for clearing the head.’

They’ve already reached their original target of £1,000, and to donate or for more information search ‘Finn and Grace’ on JustGiving to donate or for more information.