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Last Christmas, 75-year-old David Ellis was set a challenge by his family – to walk 874 miles throughout 2021.
David, a retired solicitor from Pontllanfraith, accepted the challenge – and is clocking up the distance by going for regular walks close to home.
His target is the same as the distance between Land’s End and John O’Groats.
David began the virtual journey across the UK on January 1 and has now passed the halfway point – equivalent to reaching Ullswater in the Lake District.
He has walked more than 450 miles in the process – braving rain, wind and snow.
A member of the Rotary Club of Blackwood, David is walking to raise money for the new breast care unit at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, as well as to support local youth groups so they can get back up and running after the coronavirus pandemic.
What is the new breast care unit?
Work to build a new breast care unit at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Ystrad Mynach, is set to begin in June.
The unit, which was approved by Caerphilly County Borough Council last September, will bring together breast cancer services across Gwent together under one roof.
The unit will include treatment and consultation facilities, as well as counselling rooms, a prosthesis facility and a cafe.
A voluntary group – the Friends of Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Breast Unit – was set up in 2018 with the aim of raising funds for the additional facilities the NHS is unable to provide.
So far, the group has raised more than £150,000 of its £200,000 target.
So far, he has raised £2,200 – just £300 short of his overall target of £2,500.
David told Caerphilly Observer: “I’ve been out every day since January 1. The least I’ve walked in one day has been one and a half miles, and the most has been nine miles.
“I’m averaging around four to six miles each day, so I should be complete by the end of July or early August. I’m way ahead of target.
“I’m a walker anyway, but this challenge has forced me to go out every day.”
He added: “One of the nicest walks I’ve been on was on Mynyddislwyn when it snowed – it was as if I was in the Alps.”
When David’s children set him the challenge, he saw it as an opportunity for the Rotary Club to raise money.
He chose the breast care unit because a few of the wives of rotary club members were already involved in the fundraising efforts for the unit.
With the stay local restrictions being lifted in Wales, David, who is a member of Newbridge U3A walking group, is planning on going for walks further afield in the coming weeks.
He is expecting to virtually cross Hadrian’s Wall into Scotland within the next couple of weeks.
To make a donation to David’s fundraiser, visit obv.sr/david874
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