Football-fanatic friends walk to 12 Midlands clubs in 8 days to raise money for young cancer patients

Matt Roberts (35) Operations Development and Safety Assistant at EMA, is joined by his brother, Jonathan (41), and friend Simon Milbourne (34). Simon's sons Tyler and Charlie Milbourne (aged 14 and 12) will also walk alongside them for part of their journey.

The group will depart from Port Vale Football Club's ground Vale Park in Stoke-On-Trent on Friday 23 March.

From there they will head to (in order): Stoke City, Burton Albion, Walsall, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Derby County.

They aim to arrive at Derby County's Pride Park Stadium on Easter Saturday, 31 March, just in time for kick-off, after tackling an average distance of 26 miles a day.

The 170 miles that will be walked represents the £170 grant which CLIC Sargent gives to families and young adults to help with the immediate financial needs that they face after a cancer diagnosis.

The walkers are hoping to raise £2,500 in sponsorship and are calling for people to donate what they can to help support young cancer patients and their families.

Matt said: “I have seen what great work CLIC Sargent do to support young people and families. I feel this challenge is the least I can do to try and help raise money to support this wonderful charity."

And as if the challenging walk wasn’t tough enough, the lads will kick a football along the entirety of the walk.

CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer support charity for children and young people aged 0-24 and their families. Its team including social workers, cancer nurses and play specialists provide emotional, practical and financial support. 

Sponsor the team’s fundraising challenge