Group of people in walking gear smiling at the camera

A group of 14 colleagues based at Barrow Ambulance Station took on the incredible Keswick to Barrow and Coniston to Barrow walks on Saturday 9 May, to raise money for our North West Ambulance Charity.

The Keswick to Barrow challenge is a 40-mile sponsored walking and running event in the Lake District, whilst the Coniston to Barrow challenge is a shorter 21-mile sponsored walking event.  

Paramedic Aimee Goodings said: “We enter a team each year and try to support charities that we have a connection with. We decided on the NWAS Charity this year after they provided support to our station.

“I completed the Coniston to Barrow walk which is 21 miles. It’s an amazing team building exercise and creates a buzz on station as we all look forward to the challenge. As the team coordinator, I’m very proud of everyone who took part and finished safely, albeit with some very impressive blisters!”

Group of people standing in a field smiling at the camera

Paramedic Gabriella Varga, who took on the incredible 40-mile trek from Keswick to Barrow, said: “We chose to support the NWAS charity as the support they provide to local communities and NWAS staff is not widely known. The charity supports a range of things from providing defibrillators and medical equipment outside of NHS funding, to wellbeing initiatives. With staff welfare being our main focus, knowing we were raising money to hopefully help colleagues in need made the 40-mile trek a little easier.”

Gabriella also said: “The walk itself is beautiful with stunning sceneries throughout. It was immensely challenging with the majority of us acquiring limps and blisters, but definitely worth it to raise money.”

Jemma Kinch, Head of the North West Ambulance Charity, said: “We’d like to say a huge well done and thank you to the team for completing this amazing challenge!”

The team has already raised over £1,500, but there’s still time to donate if you missed it. Each staff member that took part in the walks has their own fundraising page, listed below:

Find out more about our official charity here. You can also take part or plan your own fundraising challenge.