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Footwear retailer puts heart and sole into charity challenge

FOOTWEAR experts are lacing up their well-fitting walking boots to trek across some of the roughest terrain in the UK in aid of national charity Help for Heroes.

Staff from nationwide footwear retailer Charles Clinkard are leaving their stores and abandoning their Head Office desks to take part in a 20 mile trek along Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.

The challenge is part of the company’s 90th anniversary celebrations and the individuals who make up the trekking team have been taking care of the nation’s feet for decades.

They include Leeds store manager Mark Goward.

Mark – who’s worked at Charles Clinkard for 16 years - is no stranger to charity challenges.

He’s a staunch supporter of an appeal launched by his late sister Jane Tomlinson.

Jane famously raised £1.5m for cancer charities before the disease claimed her life in 2007. Her efforts earned her the Helen Rollason Award at the 2002 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards and the inspirational mum was given an MBE in 2003.

Mark said: “What a way to spend a Saturday – 26 miles of Northumberland countryside, time spent with some great colleagues and we’re raising money for a worthwhile cause. I can’t wait.”

Mark and his colleagues will be setting out on the Help For Heroes Hadrian’s Wall Challenge on Saturday, September 13, and hope loyal customers from the company’s 33 UK stores get behind their fundraising efforts.

The national charity raises money to support servicemen and women and veterans who have suffered life-changing injuries or illness and their families.

Help for Heroes has created four Recovery Centres around the UK, in Catterick, Colchester, Tidworth and Plymouth – and established a nationwide support network from scratch and which will provide long-term support for the wounded and their families.

Another Charles Clinkard team member is newly-appointed Redcar store manager Olivia Shearer, 22, who made the move from the York store.

She said: “I’m really excited to take part in this event, you can’t beat a good walk in the beautiful English countryside and it’s made even better by the fact we’re doing it for such a brilliant cause.”

Charles Clinkard, managing director, said: “Help for Heroes is such a great charity, and one we as a business are more than happy to support.

“We’ve pulled together a great team of staff who are eager to show their support for our injured servicemen and women.

“I’m incredibly proud of their efforts and wish them every success as they trek through the stunning wilds of Northumberland.”

Shaun Pickford, Head of Challenges at Help for Heroes said: “We would like to thank the employees of Charles Clinkard for taking part in this event and doing their bit.

“It’s great to see a national company backing the charity and we hope it’s a relationship which will continue to build over the coming years.”

Anyone wanting to make a donation to the team’s fundraising efforts can do so at http://www.bmycharity.com/CharlesClinkard

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lottie King .