A South Yorkshire firefighter is taking on a 40 mile charity hike in memory of a footballer friend who died by suicide four years ago.

Paul Wood, a Station Manager at South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, will join others on the High Peak 40 Mile Challenge in September to mark what would have been friend Stuart Lumbert’s 40th birthday.

Paul hopes to inspire others to take on the mammoth walking challenge, which will raise money for Blythe House Hospice and Help For Heroes.

Paul said: “I was born in Sheffield, but moved to Buxton in 1994. When I first came to Buxton I played football with Stuart and his brother Andrew for a local football team in the Hope Valley League.

“Stuart would have been 40 this year and his brother, Andrew Lumbert, has got a group of friends and family together to complete the High Peak 40 Mile Challenge. The challenge itself had been going for a number of years but stopped after the 2016 event and has not gone ahead since then.

“Someone has taken over the organising of the event and it is happening again this year. I know mental health is a big issue – both for firefighters and the wider community- and something that many people are affected by directly and indirectly. We hope to raise awareness of this through our fundraising efforts, whilst raising lots of money for two really important causes at the same time.”

For more information about the event on Saturday 14 September visit highpeak40.co.uk or to sponsor Paul and his friends, visit their fundraising page here

ENDS

Caption: Paul Wood (left) in training with Andrew Lumbert, Stuart’s brother