Preston women Alicia and Holly to undergo 24 hour non stop walk to help RSPCA

Two Preston women have bravely decided to battle the winter elements by undertaking a non stop, 24 hour walk to help raise funds for pets in need.
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Friends Alicia Bagshaw, 23, and Holly Scurr, 37, both from Cottam, have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to aid the RSPCA Preston branch with pet supplies. Originally setting out on a £250 target, less than a week later donations had reached nearly £1,000. Both women, who are animal lovers and own dogs, decided on a walk after learning of the hardships the animal shelter faces especially in the run up to Christmas.

Alicia told the Post: "We have recently learnt that Preston RSPCA do not receive 100 per cent of the donations, unless directly given to the branch, instead all donations are put into a central RSPCA pot and then split accordingly across the various centres up and down the UK. The Preston branch are therefore desperately in need for dog and cat food, worming/flea treatment and blankets."

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Holly added: "The idea came about when we were on a spontaneous 10km walk around Preston. We had first discussed walking the Guild Wheel, which would take approximately around eight hours. This then grew to walking a marathon and within an hour we had set up a GoFundMe page for 24 hours of non-stop walking. We wanted to challenge ourselves and provide as much as we can for such a good cause."

Friends Alicia Bagshaw, 23, and Holly Scurr, 37, from Cottam, have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to aid the RSPCA Preston branch with pet supplies. They will be undertaking a 24-hour, non stop walk around Preston next monthFriends Alicia Bagshaw, 23, and Holly Scurr, 37, from Cottam, have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to aid the RSPCA Preston branch with pet supplies. They will be undertaking a 24-hour, non stop walk around Preston next month
Friends Alicia Bagshaw, 23, and Holly Scurr, 37, from Cottam, have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to aid the RSPCA Preston branch with pet supplies. They will be undertaking a 24-hour, non stop walk around Preston next month

Alicia and Holly who both work at BAE Systems in Warton as an engineer and project manager respectively, train four days a week at the gym mixing yoga, weights and HIIT workouts (high-intensity interval training) alongside evening and weekend walks. They are hoping to complete the challenge on Tuesday, December 27, on the basis that the weather holds out and, if not, then a back up plan of completing the walk within the Christmas period timeline.

Alicia said: "We are aiming to walk for 24 hours non-stop so we can provide the dogs and cats at the RSPCA Preston branch with food, treats, blankets, toys and anything they need. We are very unprepared for the distance but we have the determination and motivation to complete the challenge and we also have family and friends who will be walking shorter distances with us for support. Walking at approximately three miles per hour will cover between 60-72 miles with only very short refreshment breaks. Please donate to help a wonderful cause."

Holly added: "Thank you to each and every person who has donated, it’s not only going to make a significant difference to the animals in the shelter, but it has given us the motivation to do this. We will be using all of the donations to purchase the items on the list and have been in contact with Barkers in Garstang per supplies who are happy to help.

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"We have realised, with the help of mainly our colleagues, that we are both insane, that there will be tears, frost bite and zero sleep but we are determined more than ever to conquer the challenge."

They are planning to walk the Guild Wheel and then onto either Garstang/Lancaster (using the A6) or towards Lytham and Blackpool Tower and hope to end their walk at the RSPCA branch in Preston.

If you would like to make a donation CLICK HERE.

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