A football fanatic is walking 170 miles to football clubs across the Midlands - including Burton Albion - as part of a charity drive to raise money for children with cancer.
East Midlands Airport worker Matt Roberts and a team of friends will visit the Pirelli Stadium as part of a regional tour of 12 football clubs to raise vital funds for cancer support charity CLIC Sargent.
Matt, 35, operations development and safety assistant at the airport in Castle Donington, will be joined by his brother Jonathan Roberts, 41, and friend Simon Milbourne, 34. Simon's sons Tyler and Charlie Milbourne, aged 14 and 12, will also walk alongside them for part of their journey.
The group will depart from Port Vale's ground Vale Park in Stoke-on-Trent today, Friday, March 23.
From there they will head to (in order): Stoke City, Burton Albion, Walsall, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Derby County.
They aim to arrive at Derby County's Pride Park Stadium on Easter Saturday, March 31, just in time for kick-off, after tackling an average distance of 26 miles a day.
The 170 miles that the lads will be walking, represents the £170 grant which CLIC Sargent gives to families and young adults to help with the immediate financial needs they face following a cancer diagnosis.
Matt's colleagues at Manchester Airports Group, which owns East Midlands Airport, chose CLIC Sargent as its first ever national charity partner in 2015.
The walkers, a mixture of Derby and Port Vale fans, are putting their football allegiances aside to generate funds for CLIC Sargent. They are hoping to raise £2,500 in sponsorship and are calling for people to donate what they can to help support young cancer patients and their families.
Matt said: “The reason I am doing this for CLIC Sargent is since our partnership began at Manchester Airports Group, I have seen what great work they do in supporting young people and families. I feel this challenge is the least I can do to try and help raise money to support this wonderful charity."
The lads have been training hard - and sometimes in freezing conditions - to make sure they will be up for the challenge to help them stick to their strict time schedule. And as if the challenging walk wasn’t tough enough, the boys are also planning to kick a football along the entirety of the walk.
Matt said: “It’s a huge challenge that we’ve set ourselves but we’ve been training hard and can’t wait to get started. We have been training between four and five days a week and have tried to complete 10 to 15 miles walking a day in preparation.
“Please dig deep and support us so that CLIC Sargent can be there for more families facing cancer when they need them most.”
CLIC Sargent is a UK cancer support charity for children and young people aged up to 24 and their families. Its team include social workers and cancer nurses while play specialists provide emotional, practical and financial support.
Sam Scott, corporate fund-raising manager, CLIC Sargent, said: “We are so pleased to have the support of Manchester Airports Group in our fight for young lives against cancer. Without the amazing efforts from fund-raisers like Matt and the team we wouldn’t be able to provide the vital support we do.
“We wish the team the best of luck for their challenge and would like to say a huge thank-you to them for all their hard work.”
To sponsor the team’s fund-raising challenge for CLIC Sargent visit the website here .
