A FUNDRAISING walk for the Rosemere Foundation cancer charity is going virtual this year, due to the pandemic.

The now-annual 'Walk in the Dark' event usually takes place towards the end of April.

This year, however, participants will be able to go down a walking route of their choice anytime between Saturday, August 15 and Saturday, September 12.

For more than a decade, the charity has held a carnival-esque, night-time 11-mile trek along the A6 as one of its major annual fundraising activities.

Consultant plastic surgeon, Dr Jeyaram Srinivasan, is a long-time advocate of the physical and mental health benefits of taking a countryside walk. He is now partnering with charity Rosemere Cancer Foundation to encourage South Cumbria residents to sign up to the adapted event. Registration is £10 with children U12 able to sign up for free.

Dr Srinivasan, who in 2018 walked part of the Great Wall of China with Krishna to raise funds for Rosemere Cancer Foundation, said: “We are very fortunate in that we have some beautiful countryside on our doorstep.

"Sometimes, to get out and enjoy it, we just need a little motivation and I hope supporting Rosemere Cancer Foundation’s Walk in the Dark Goes Virtual is all the encouragement that’s needed.”

He added that the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, which works to bring world-class cancer treatments and services to cancer patients from throughout South Cumbria being treated at Rosemere Cancer Centre and at another eight local hospital cancer units across the south of the county and North Lancashire, is close to his heart.

Commenting on the adapted initiative, the charity’s walk co-ordinator Rebecca Arestidou said: “In a normal year, we have several hundred walkers taking part in Walk in the Dark, helping us to raise around £50,000.

"With the safety of our supporters being the most important thing, we didn’t feel we could go ahead with this year’s walk but with our income already 65% down on where it should be, we’re appealing to those who intended to take part and others besides to still walk for us but in their own bubbles to their own routes.”

The walker pack includes route suggestions in South Cumbria. To sign up, visit: visit www.rosemere.org.uk.