Four of the six officers training together

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Issued on 20/5/13 at 4:08 p.m.

Six Leicestershire police officers will be walking from London to Brighton (100km) in one day to raise money for five charities.

The officers are taking part in the London 2 Brighton Challenge on Saturday 25th May 2013 with more than 2,000 walkers. It starts at Richmond Upon Thames, goes through Surrey and Sussex, over the South Downs and into Brighton. Walkers have to complete the challenge within 33 hours and the officers hope to complete it within 24 hours.

PC 768 James Wakefield and another colleague are raising money for The Multiple Sclerosis Society, as friends and family members of the officers are suffering from the disease. The MS Society is the leading UK charity for the 100,000 people living with multiple sclerosis in the UK. Most people are diagnosed in their 20s and 30s. They are fighting to improve treatment, and care, to help people with MS take control of their lives.

PC Wakefield says the idea of walking 100km in just a day is pretty daunting: “Last year I walked the West Highland Way (100 miles) in Scotland over 5 days to raise money for various children’s charities. That challenge resulted in me losing all the skin off one of my heels and 6 toe nails came off so I must be mad to try an even harder challenge this year. But it’s for a fantastic cause and our plan is simple, don't stop walking until we reach Brighton or get picked up by an Ambulance!"

Sergeant 1493 Chris Lemon is fund raising for Macmillan in recognition for the care they provided to his late patents.

Sergeant 871 Danny Paddock is fund raising to support his colleague, Sergeant Stewart Sparling who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in September 2011. Stewart was a very fit and active man when he noticed at the age of 40 that is right foot was not functioning properly. His diagnosis was devastating for him and his family but Stewart and his colleagues have now held a number of fund raising events to increase awareness of the illness and raise as much money as possible for the MNDA and a motorised wheelchair for Stewart.

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a progressive disease that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting and affects walking, talking, eating, drinking and breathing. The MNDA raises money to help people with the disease and fund research into a possible cure.

DC 2058 James Clayton is raising money for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and PC 2927 Richard Lane is supporting Rainbows Children’s Hospice in Loughborough.

The team of officers have received support from The Leicestershire Police Sports and Leisure department, Kirby Care Ltd, and from Practical Car & Van Rental (Leicester).

The officers hope to raise in excess of £4000 between them and you can sponsor any of the participants by going to http://www.justgiving.com and searching for the team member by name.