Teens stride out on Coast to Coast fundraiser

"Just a quick walk in nature every day if you're feeling down, that makes me feel a lot better," says George Wainwright.

Since the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, George and his school friends Elliott Everett andJacob Dougan have met up once a week to get out and enjoy nature.

The walks are a chance to escape the "busyness of modern life", and provide a space to talk about everything, including mental health, George says.

Elliott adds: "During some of my hard times, I'm like: 'it's hard right now but I get to have a nice walk with the lads, hang out and chat about life."

Now the young men, all 18 and from Wakefield, are channelling their love of the outdoors into tackling England's newest national trail, the Coast to Coast path.

Starting this Sunday, they're hoping to complete the 190-mile (305.7km) footpath in 12 days, raising money for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The route starts at St Bees in Cumbria and takes in three national parks, ending at Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire.

The trio plan to cover about 17 miles (27.3km) per day, with "one terrible 25-mile day", George jokes, although they've "all done worse".

This is the third year they've tackled a long-distance challenge, having walked 72 miles (115.8km) from Stanley to Filey, and 100 miles (160.9km) to North Wales.

They've previously raised funds for the WWF and Andy's Man Club, two causes that they're passionate about.

"It does mean the world to us," Elliott says.

"We're very conscious of environmental issues [and] always thinking of ways to combat them."

Jacob says he is feeling "pretty optimistic" about the latest challenge.

"Since I've had the opportunity to study animal care in college and hopefully marine biology in university, I have been able to see how important nature truly is to us and how big an impact the WWF can have," he explains.

"It's important to keep doing these challenges to spread awareness."

Despite their enthusiasm and experience, they "all have days of reckoning" on the walks, George says.

"We definitely all boost each other on the walk, we've all got our different strengths and weaknesses," he says.

"I had a migraine at one of my days, which I suffer really badly with. But we managed to get to the campsite and the lads helped me out."

As to be expected between old friends, "the inside jokes do become a little bit crazy", Elliott admits, but talk can also pivot to "the world and our place in it".

Work and university commitments may dictate if they attempt a new challenge next year, but hopefully they can do more in the future, he adds.

"If we're all together and we can pull this off, I don't see why we couldn't do something bigger," George agrees.

For now, the trio are looking forward to their latest expedition - with one eye on the weather forecast.

"It looks absolutely miserable, but there's still time for it to be better," Elliott adds.

"With long walks like this, it's going to be about the journey and not the destination."

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