WALKERS are being asked to spend a whole day on their feet to help raise £50,000 for Oxford children’s hospice Helen and Douglas House.

Focus Independent Financial Advisers and Insurance Consultants, based in Seacourt Tower, Botley, has launched a 24-hour fundraising marathon walk and is trying to get as many teams from Oxfordshire businesses as possible to sign up.

The walk, which starts and finishes at Cornbury Park, Charlbury, will cover 50 miles of Oxfordshire’s footpaths and bridleways over the weekend of June 26 and 27. Each team will be expected to raise a minimum of £1,000 for the pioneering East Oxford hospice, and the company is hoping to recruit at least 50 teams to take part.

The event was suggested by Focus partner Nick Jones, who raised £3,200 last year for Helen and Douglas House by taking part in a range of sporting events including the London Marathon.

His sister, Alexandra, died of cancer 20 years ago when she was six.

Mr Jones said: “When I moved to Oxford and learned about Helen and Douglas House, it touched a nerve and I thought that’s the charity for me.

“We have had a number of promises from people who say they will put teams in for the challenge, and I actually think that 50 is on the conservative side.”

If the challenge reached its target it would pay for a nurse and a care team member at the East Oxford hospice for a year.