July 24, 2014 3.45 pm This story is over 116 months old

Lincoln St Marks staff to hitchhike across UK for charity

Land’s End to John O’Groates: Two members of staff from the St Marks shopping centre in Lincoln will cover the 874-mile journey across the UK by “as many means possible” for charity.
Nikki North and Martin Dunning will travel the length of the UK in "as many means possible". Photo: Stuart Wilde

Two members of staff from the St Marks shopping centre in Lincoln will cover an 874 mile journey across the UK by “as many means possible” for charity.

Starting at Land’s End on Wednesday, August 27, Nikki North (36) and Martin Dunning (40) plan to hail free lifts for the entire route to John O’Groates to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Neither Nikki nor Martin have undertaken a feat so big, but they do regularly help with charity days at the shopping centre.

Facilities Supervisor Martin, who has a fear of flying, is hoping to keep his feet on the ground throughout the trip.

Nikki, Facilities Manager, said: “Martin has a huge fear of flying and that is definitely why I wanted to pick a leg of this journey up by plane, even if we can fly home.

“We have had an anonymous donation to fly us home, so I am working with Martin to overcome his fear! I certainly would like to get a ride on a tractor or combine harvester if possible. I just think the quirkier the better!”

The pair have so far managed to schedule a coach ride, and are appealing to businesses to donate legs of the journey.

So far, the pair have been donated a bus ride and a plane journey.

So far, the pair have been donated a bus ride and a plane journey.

Already, they’ve raised over £700.00 and donations can be made on their funding pages.

[button url=”https://www.justgiving.com/Nikki-North2/” title=”Donate here”]Nikki’s Just Giving Page[/button]

[button url=”https://www.justgiving.com/Martin-Dunning/” title=”Donate here”]Martin’s Just Giving Page[/button]

The pair have set themselves a target of £2,000, and the charity means a lot to Nikki as they helped her friend through a cancer diagnosis.

Nikki said: “The work that Macmillan did was amazing. From the point of diagnosis I know she was very scared, but Macmillan helped to alleviate some of the fears with their visits and knowledge, they helped her with treatment, they gave her a shoulder to cry on and made her smile too.

“The amazing thing is that Macmillan don’t just support the patient but their families too, which was just fantastic. I think we have all been touched by someone close having the cancer Diagnosis and the work that Macmillan do is inspiring.”