David's 500 mile trek

5:27pm Monday 9th June 2008

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David Birchenall, 50, of Chipperfield, has officially hung up his walking boots after raising more than £44,000 during a 500-mile trek in aid of The Variety Club Children's Charity and The Willow Foundation.

The chief executive of dd2group, who has completed the trek from Gretna Green to Land's End, said: "Reaching 50 was a personal milestone which gave me the idea to walk 500 miles at 50.

"The hardest part was when we were crossing over the Severn Bridge I was with my brother-in-law, Ash, and he and I were crossing from Wales into England when the most incredible storm came in.

"Winds were gusting 90 miles-per-hour, it was torrential rain and winds and we only had a small handrail stopping us being blown into the estuary.

"We walked for three miles it was extremely scary, then we started to suffer the onset of hypothermia, the temperature dropped from 18 to eight degrees in minutes, we were soaked to the skin and freezing cold.

"My wife whizzed off to a golf club to buy water-proofs."

The money will be split between the two charities and will help to buy an entire operation unit for the Variety Club Children's Hospital, in London.

David, of Bucks Hill, explained that he has supported The Willow Foundation, which provides extra special days out to help seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to spend quality time with family and/or friends, since 1997.

David, who has previously taken part in a coast-to-coast walk from St Bee's Head to Robin Hood's Bay, said: "Every morning I got up and put on my walking shoes with swollen blistered feet, this was the toughest challenge out of all my walks.

"It was like doing a marathon a day for 20 days, and I am definitely going to stay away from my walking boots now.

"My wife, Mel, was brilliant and gave me all the support I needed, particularly in the last three days and my two children sent me motivational texts every day."

He also appreciated all the support he was given from friends from Rickmansworth, Alistair Howse and Mike England, who turned up and "egged him on".

Norman Kaphan, Variety Club's chief barker, said: "David's commitment to Variety Club is unparalleled and his fundraising endeavour to help children and young adults is an example to us all.

"The Variety Club is delighted David walked the length of England and the vital funds he raised will enable us to continue to support children throughout the UK."

To support David visitwww.justgiving.com/davidbirchenall or email david50walk@dd2group.com.