A COUPLE have walked 70 miles to raise money for a hospital that treated the wife’s breast cancer.

Stuart Bissett and his wife Robyn, from Lidstone in Oxfordshire, have raised  £350 for the Brodey Centre at the Horton General Hospital.

The couple walked the Donnington Way  - a 70 mile route near Stow-on-the-Wold, that connects 17 Donnington Brewery pubs.

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They were inspired by Mrs Bissett’s diagnosis, treatment and recovery from breast cancer.

Mr Bissett said:  “My wife Robyn was the motivation behind the walk, she was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago and went through chemotherapy treatment.

“Thankfully our story had a happy outcome – Robyn is well and fully recovered, and we often think of, and are thankful for, the care and support we received from the NHS teams at the Horton’s  Brodey Centre and Churchill Hospital in Oxford.”

This year, Mr Bissett turned 50, and instead of having a party or going for meal out, he wanted to do something which was a bit more unusual and a ‘bit of a challenge’, while also combining their love of countryside walks and great British pubs.

“Having decided to take on this challenge,” he said. “We thought it would be nice to give something back by raising some sponsorship money, so instead of birthday presents we asked friends and family to donate to our fundraising page.”

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The walk took nine days in total and they decided to split it across several dates so that friends and family could join them.

The first four consecutive days of the walk saw the couple joined by their two teenage children, Imogen and Ethan - they all carried their kit in rucksacks and stayed in the pubs or hotels overnight along the way.

Mr Bissett said: “These days were longer, more gruelling distances, covering up to 15 miles in a day.”

The remaining days they spread across weekends in May to July, with shorter distances allowing friends of all abilities to join them, and always with a pub lunch in the middle.

Mr Bissett added: “We had as many as 16 people on some of these walks, including local friends and their teenage children, family who had travelled a couple of hours to be with and even my 80-year-old parents on one of them.

“Overall, this made for a very inclusive event and allowed our friends and family to be involved and connect with each other in a way that we had not done before.”

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Claire Hughes, from Oxford Hospitals Charity, said: “We loved hearing about this challenge and how you got everyone involved. 

“The money raised will make a real difference for other patients in our hospitals.”

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford, Wantage and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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