Cindy strides out for Peruvian charity

Wedding co-ordinator Cindy Edwards from Halfway House near Shrewsbury has spent the past 13 days tramping her way along the route from Prestatyn to Chepstow along with a group of friends to raise money for Project Peru a UK based voluntary charity that has built a children's refuge in the capital of Lima.

Along the route she was joined by up to 24 people at a time and the group spent their nights under canvas on remote hillsides, in woodland and in open fields and in hostels.

Following the route of the original dyke, the group climbed over every stile along the way - even those standing alone in the middle of a field with no fencing or close to an open gate.

"We wanted to do it properly," said Cindy. "It became a running joke."

Cindy and her friends had been in training since Christmas and their levels of fitness were high. However nothing could prepare their feet for the relentless pounding of covering 177 miles in a little under two weeks.

"My feet were ok but some people had to go off to the doctors for treatment for their blisters," added Cindy. This was not the first time she had raised money for Project Peru - in 2013 she also did a charity bike ride from Guildford to Paris.

But this time around, she has raised in excess of £9,000 beating her target of £7,000 - the amount it costs to run the centre in Lima for a month.

Project Peru is a small, totally voluntary UK based charity offering food, clothes, shelter, education, health and fun to those who live in children’s refuge in the desert shanty towns of Lima.

"There are about 50 children getting help at the centre, and it is for every child who needs help not just orphans," added Cindy.

"I am already considering doing more fundraising for Project Peru in the future. We had such an amazing time on this walk I am looking at doing something else."

To donate to Cindy's Project Peru walk go to mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/offasdykecrew