A Northumberland musician and author is taking on a 24-hour walking challenge on the Winter Solstice to raise money for charity.
The 48-year-old will walk around the lake at Druridge Bay Country Park from 10am on December 21 until the same time the following day. He is expecting to walk around 52 miles, though says that his aim is about the time rather than the distance.
Usually, Derek does his annual 24-hour walk alone under the name Footprints for Others, but is joined by family and friends for short periods throughout. But this time, he'll walk the full distance with a friend who accompanied him for nine hours of the walk last year, having not seen each other for a decade previously.
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And it was his friend who chose to raise money for British Heart Foundation. Despite that, Derek fundraises for a different charity each time he does a 24-hour challenge - whether that's walking, playing music or playing darts for a whole day.
Last year's walk was for Dementia UK but in the past he has raised money and awareness of "hedgehogs and whatever you can imagine." Another change from last year is that Derek will have a walk-in tent to get changed and for people who come to see how he's doing can keep warm.
He said: "The best part of the walk is that a lot of people come along, and this year Melanie (Derek's wife) will be putting a fire on. We have a bin fire and people gather around it and have drinks and mince pies and they join in for a laugh together, or sometimes they'll cheer me on the way past."
Derek is often joined by his 16-year-old daughter, Ellie, for half the walk and says that they are a close and "Christmassy" family. Each year, he releases a Christmas single and has this year written a book of Christmas stories.
He finished: "I love seeing people together and I love bringing people together. I'm so excited for Christmas, I like that everyone gets together and you meet friends you only see at that time of year."
The initial target on Derek's JustGiving page is £100, however last year's walk raised £1,151 (479% of his £240 target) from the JustGiving page alone. If you want to donate to Derek's fundraiser for the British Heart Foundation, you can do so here.
What's the craziest challenge you've done for charity? Let us know!
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