Annual Dunwich pub trek taking place in early November in aid of The Lewis Foundation
An annual trek around six pubs on the Suffolk coast will take place at the start of November, all in aid of charity.
Mick Finch, from Northampton, started it as a circular village walk in Dunwich, near Southwold, in 2017, and then he discovered there were pubs in each of the villages nearby, so stretched the walk to call in at those also, with the first six-pub group walk taking place in November 2021.
Nearly 40 others will be joining him for the walk, which will start at The Ship Inn, moving on to The Crown in Westleton, The Bell in Middleton, the Theberton Lion, The Eels Foot Inn in Leiston before circling back to Dunwich, calling in at The 12 Lost Churches and then finishing back at The Ship.
The walk is in aid of The Lewis Foundation, who Mick has supported since its inception in 2016 after they supported his sister whilst she was undergoing cancer treatment.
Mick said: “My first six pub group walk started with just eight of us in November 2021, then last year I had 24 turn up, and this year it is now standing at 38 in total.
“We will be walking the whole route over the Saturday (November 4), leaving from The Ship at 10am and, depending on weather and fitness levels, should be back at The Ship for about 7pm.
“The Lewis Foundation started their charity work around 2016; my sister, Janet, was in hospital suffering with bowel cancer, and whilst visiting her one evening we met a group of people going around the cancer ward giving out these goodie bags free of charge to the cancer patients.
“My sister was totally overwhelmed with their generosity and each Friday when The Lewis Foundation visited, it really did light up their evening.”
Sadly Janet succumbed to her cancer in July of that year, but Mick has kept in touch with the foundation ever since and tries to raise money for them where he can.
Mick has also taken part in 25 Three Peaks challenges since the early 1990s for charity, and will be doing so again in June next year in aid of The Lewis Foundation.
His latest big charity walk was taking groups to the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland to trek up the 10,000 foot mountain known at the Schilthorn.
Rebecca Roberts, general manager of The Ship Inn, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming Mick and his amazing group of fundraisers to The Ship and The Westleton Crown.
“The Suffolk Coast is a lovely place to walk during the Autumn months and we hope they are able to raise a huge amount of money for a very worthy cause.”
Anyone wanting to donate to Mick’s fundraiser can visit his JustGiving page here.
