What a trooper
Postman Barry Davies, from Lampeter Delivery Office, has raised more than £7,800 after walking an astonishing 870 miles for Cancer Research UK.
Barry set himself the challenge to walk the Wales coastal path in less than 33 days. And so after leaving Chester on Friday 10 May, Barry walked the entire 870 mile route, averaging around 30 miles a day through sun, rain, thunder and lightning, before finishing in Chepstow on Saturday 8 June.
On average Barry walked about 30 miles a day. He walked through a variety of weather, but made sure that one foot went in front of the other each day.
Lampeter delivery office manager, James Lambert, said: ‘I met up with Barry on the Ceredigion leg of the walk and spent an hour or so with him trying to keep up. At that point, he was 14 miles off target but given the overall distance he was really happy with the way things had been going.
‘He had some issues with blisters on his feet and his calves which required nightly massages. But he had so much support locally from friends, family and colleagues, who joined him for parts of the walk.
‘The local MP, Ben Lake, also sent him best wishes via Twitter and Facebook so he had plenty of publicity.’
Barry’s initial plan was to raise £1,500 for Cancer Research UK – a cause very close to his heart as he lost his father to cancer in September 2015 – but on his fundraising page, the total (at the time of writing) was an incredible £7,866.
‘As you can imagine, this was a huge undertaking for Barry and he was in training prior to the challenge for four months - all while managing a family of three boys alongside his day job at Royal Mail,’ said James.
Barry thanked his family and friends and everyone who has been at his side over the last few months with all the organization, support and the company he needed to complete his walk, saying: ‘The money I raise will help fund life-saving research and bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.’
