A GRANDFATHER has completed a charity walk along the length of Hadrian’s Wall in memory of his late wife.

Jim O’Connor, from Esh Village, near Durham, completed the 84.5-mile walk to raise funds for his charity Dorothy’s Well Project Tanzania.

The 66-year-old established the fund in memory of his late wife Dorothy, who died from breast cancer in 2006.

He started his Walking The Wall For Water challenge at Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria, on Thursday, September 4, and finished at Wallsend, in North Tyneside, six days later, clocking up 12-14 miles a day.

Now Mr O’Connor wants to thank all the people in the region who supported him along the way.

He said: “Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the people in the North-East, I have raised a further £5,000 towards my goal of £50,000 by February 2015 to provide a further two solar-powered wells for children in the poorest rural communities in Tanzania.”

The new solar-powered wells will provide safe clean water for villagers and surplus power generated by the solar panels will be converted into electricity for school classrooms.

Mr O’Connor said the provision of clean drinking water is the first step out of poverty.

He said: “It gives children a better start in life, supports higher educational achievement and facilitates enterprise, enabling communities to prosper, not just in the short term but for generations to come.”

Dorothy’s Well Project Tanzania has already raised more than £300,000 and sunk eight deep water wells providing fresh, clean life-giving water for 5,000 children and 23,000 people in these communities.

Six of the wells use solar power to pump clean water up from underground, one uses a wind turbine and the other is a hand pump.

Every penny the charity raises is used to provide deep water wells and all administrative costs and expenses are paid for personally by Mr O’Connor and his committee.

To find out more about the project, or to make a donation, visit www.dorothyswells.org or text DWPT09 to 70070.

Send donations, with cheques payable to Dorothy’s Well Project Tanzania, by post to: Rose Cottage, Front Street, Esh, DH7 9QS.