An inspiring Dad has arrived in Wirral as part of his 11,000-mile coastline walk challenge to raise money for Children in Need.
Chris Howard, 36, from Cambridge started the coastal walk in May 2020, following the UK’s first lockdown.
The Dad-of-three, known as Chris the Coast Walker, is expected to walk along the Wirral coastline throughout the day – after completing the Welsh leg of his walk.
Chris said: “I’ve got three young daughters of my own. The first lockdown made me realise how lucky they are.
“I didn’t have such a great and lucky childhood and I didn’t want people to forget about children during lockdown and how hard it is on them.
“Also, children from disadvantaged backgrounds that don’t have everything that lots of children do. I felt like children were going to get forgotten about.
“The first lockdown gave me the opportunity to step away from work a little bit, which meant I could do something a bit meaningful and useful.
“So that, combined with Children in Need reaching people in every part of the country, I thought I’d go for a walk.”
Chris has completed around 4,500 miles and continues to walk around 30 miles per day to reach his target – only seeing his family every 10 weeks.
Lockdown restrictions brought in over Winter put his challenge on pause, setting him back around four months.
He anticipates that he will complete the full journey by the end of the year.
Chris added: “I did have people come and join me for a day, or half a day which is really nice, because I'm mainly on my own so I get quite lonely.
“I arrive in lots of places and its really nice to lots of people, but no one knows who you are.
“But when people do come out the woodwork and contact me, it’s such a massive mental boost.”
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