A pair of charity walks planned for the Sid Valley to help raise funds for Sidmouth Hospiscare’s new headquarters in Sidford have had to be postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus.

Plans were in the pipeline to hold The Community Pebble Walk 2020 in June this year.

The walks would have become the Sid Valley’s very own fundraiser for Sidmouth Hospiscare, which is responsible for providing care and support for people with life-limiting illnesses, and their families and carers.

However, with much of the country in lockout amid growing fears over the spread of Covid-19 – also known as coronavirus – organisers have been forced to pull the plug on this years walks.

The 12-month postponement will see the walks earmarked to be held in June 2021.

Geoff Hulley, chair of the organising committee for the Commmunity Pebble Walk 2020, said: “It was clearly a very tough decision but a number of factors had to be taken into account, these included stopping all future event planning meetings.

“In addition we had hoped to raise sponsorship from local businesses but in this extremely uncertain economic climate it would be totally inappropriate to expect any financial support or commitment from anyone.

“Gill Ryall, CEO of Sidmouth Hospiscare was fully involved and aware of the decision and totally supported the plan for re-launch for June 20201.

“However none of the team’s work so far will be lost, we will continue to plan for next year so we can come back bigger and better – hopefully by then the community of the Sid Valley will be thriving and back on track, both socially and economically.”

A new Community Pebble Walk website will be launched in the coming months and all information will be updated and available.

The fundraiser was officially launched in January this year, offering a shorter trek of 4.9 miles with a high point of 131 feet, and a longer walk of 7.6 miles, with a high point of 793 feet.

The walks were planned to boost the finances of Sidmouth Hospiscare, which is facing an expensive move to a new HQ.

The charity purchased the former Sidford Surgery in November 2017, and has plans to transform the building into a day centre, and offer other facilities to support patients and carers in the Sid Valley.