Walkers raise �2,000 in Dreamflight charity walk from Sidmouth to Axmouth

SPORTING white Dreamflight T-shirts, and a big grin, Charlie Dimmock of TV gardening fame, headed 25 walkers and six dogs as they set off from Sidmouth on a 10-mile walk for charity.

Susie Lawrence, from Newton Poppleford, organised the walk, which raised �2,000 of the �3,500 needed to send a disabled child on the trip of a lifetime to Florida this summer.

She invited the charity’s patron, Charlie, to head the walk, which ended with a hog roast at the Ship Inn, Axmouth.

Charlie, who has accompanied children on the Dreamflight trips since becoming involved with the charity a decade ago, said: “As an adult going along, you can just see children change so much and gain confidence.

“Sometimes it’s a bit emotional, like when they are swimming with dolphins.”

A chance meeting with Pat Pearce MBE, co-founder of Dreamflight, on a BA flight to New York, prompted Charlie’s involvement.

She praised the charity’s role of taking seriously ill children, aged seven to 16, away on dream trips, accompanied by medical staff.

“They gain a lot of confidence because normally it is the first time they have been away on their own without their parents,” she said.

Susie thanked Bill Lankester of Sidmouth Living With Cancer for transporting everyone to the starting point from Dukes.

She described the walk as “strenuous”, adding: “It was great fun and a huge sense of achievement was felt by all at the end.

“One person stopped their car to ask what we were fundraising for and made a donation.”

Honiton cadets marshalled the route to ensure everyone’s safety and Sergeant Major Ryan Braunton-Turner took part in the trek.

At Axmouth, Billy, who is in a boy band called Innocent entertained the walkers.

One, Graeme Jenkins and his dog Forrester, said the thought of the children benefiting from the walk spurred them on.

Of Sidmouth, Charlie said: “It is a lovely part of the world, I used to come here on holidays with my parents.”

If anyone would like to help Susie reach her target, please send donations to www.justgiving.com/Susan-Lawrence1.