Hollioake starts charity trek

Adam Hollioake's epic charity trek from the north of Scotland to Morocco is under way.

IN MEMORY OF BEN Archive: Hollioake takes the good with the bad

The Surrey skipper, who has dubbed his trip 'The Journey', took his first steps in Edinburgh at 0930 BST on Friday.

It is part of a campaign to raise money in memory of his late brother and former England cricketer Ben, killed in a car accident in Australia in March 2002.

The United Kingdom leg of the journey involves 594 miles spread across 28 days, meaning he will walk about 21 miles per day.

Once that is completed, Hollioake will sail from Brighton to Dieppe, cycle to Gibraltar and take to a boat again for the final leg of the trip to Tangiers - a grand total of more than 2,000 miles.

Money raised from the trip will go to the Ben Hollioake Memorial Fund, set up to help children who are not expected to reach their 19th birthday.

Along with his family, Hollioake is pledging to raise £5m for the CHASE Children's Hospice Service in London in the next five years.

Hollioake said he was ready for the trek, but admitted he would have liked more time for training.

"Unfortunately I've been fairly busy and obviously with the cricket season on I haven't had much chance for training," Hollioake, who will retire from cricket after next season, told BBC Breakfast.

"I've just been doing a lot of research and finding out any cheats, like the right socks to wear and determine the right tactics."

The former England one-day captain said the trek was his largest charity endeavour.

"I got involved with CHASE over the last six years but I was a fairly fair-weather charity supporter just doing the odd piece of shirt-signing," he said.

"This is the biggest thing I have been involved with charity-wise.

"Ben was very similar to me, just signing a few shirts, but he had helped out with this charity before and so it seemed appropriate to choose CHASE."

Hollioake will be joined for the trip by ex-professional cricketer Matthew Church, European heavyweight boxing champion Scott Welch, and Lancashire cricketer Iain Sutcliffe.

IN BOTHAM'S FOOTSTEPS English cricket's original charity walker, Ian Botham, also sets off on Friday for his latest trek. Beefy will walk 210 miles in the valleys of south-east Wales to raise money for a children's hospital.

Members of the public are invited to join in at any stage and former Prime Minister John Major, comedian Alistair McGowan, members of the England cricket squad and many others will also be walking.

The expedition will end on November 24 with a reception in the Moroccan city of Tangiers.

CHASE Children's Hospice Service chief executive, Chris Robinson, said: "We can't wait for it all to start, we are really excited about the whole Ben Hollioake Fund.

"It's a fantastic five-year project and we are delighted to be working with Adam and the Hollioake family, who are great friends of the charity.

"A London centre will make a great deal of difference to the 150 families involved."

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The Journey - The Route

3 October - Edinburgh to Lauder
4 October - Lauder to Jedburgh
5 October - Jedburgh to Otterburn
6 October - Otterburn to Ponteland
7 October - Ponteland to Newcastle
8 October - Newcastle to Durham

8 October - Evening reception at Chester-le-Street

9 October - Durham to Darlington
10 October - Darlington to Thirsk
11 October - Thirsk ro Harrogate
12 October - Harrogate to Leeds

12 October - Evening reception Headingley

13 October - Leeds to Huddersfield
14 October - Huddersfield to Manchester

14 October - Evening reception at Old Trafford

15 October - Manchester to Chapel en le Frith
16 October - Chapel en le Frith to Chesterfield
17 October - Chesterfield to Nottingham

17 October - Evening reception at Trent Bridge

18 October - Day off
19 October - Nottingham to Leicester

19 October - Evening reception at Grace Road

20 October - Leicester to Coventry
21 October - Day off
22 October - Coventry to Southam
23 October - Southam to Northampton

23 October - Evening reception at Northampton county ground

24 October - Northampton to Leighton Buzzard
25 October - Leighton Buzzard to Watford
26 October - Watford to Kennington

26 October - Evening reception at The Oval

27 October - Kennington to Leatherhead
28 October - Leatherhead to Godalming

28 October - Evening reception at Christopher's, the hospice Hollioake is supporting

29 October - Godalming to Cowfold
30 October - Cowfold to Brighton
31 October - Day Off

31 October - Evening reception at Seattle Hotel, Brighton

1 November - Hollioake departs for Dieppe, where the French part of the journey begins. He will cycle to Perpignan.

11 November - Hollioake cycles from Perpignan to Gibraltar.
Once in Gibraltar, Hollioake will sail to Tangiers, where a reception will be held to celebrate the end of The Journey on 24 November.