A COUPLE have decided to embark on a virtual journey to raise money for their friends and loved ones.

Gillian Clarkson, who works in the pharmacy at Tesco Bishop Auckland, and husband Alan are taking part in a virtual walk from Shildon to Alvor in Portugal.

They have been fundraising over the past few weeks and have now completed over 600 miles.

They were helped with a raffle and a further donation of £100 from their store colleagues.

Mrs Clarkson said: “Myself and Alan have lost five very good friends during this pandemic and we wanted to do something in their memory.

“We contacted each family to ask which charities they would like us to donate to on behalf of their loved ones.

Their chosen charities include Versus Arthritis, Butterwick Hospice and Macmillan Cancer.

Mrs Clarkson added: "Alan and I holiday in a special place on the Algarve called Alvor so we decided to do a virtual Fitbit walk to raise funds.

“The distance is a total of 1,732 miles and we are hopefully due to holiday there in September so hope to have completed it by then.

“We have sponsor forms and a virgin giving page for donations and to date we have raised nearly £3,000.

"To finish off our fundraiser we are having a charity night in October.”

Mr Clarkson added: "Two of the friends who we are raising money for were fellow Shildon supporters, like myself and supported Shildon Football Club home and away over the years.

"The other people were very good family friends who we have known for over 40 years and were in our social group, we will fondly remember them, always.

"We see this as a fitting tribute to all of them. We have currently walked 586 and on our virtual map, we are at a place called Alencon in France. We now only have 1,146 to complete our challenge and hopefully, raise lots more money." 

Tesco Community Champion John Bailey said: "Gillian and Husband along with their friends who are taking this virtual challenge on are doing a fantastic job for three fantastic causes.

"During a time where things are uncertain we can still raise funds for worthwhile causes and Gillian always gets involved with any in store events we do.

"We raised the money by doing raffles £123, then we had another fundraiser and added £100.

"We hope this money will go further to help the charities.

"I know they have raised lots outside in the community and that is brilliant. "The three charities will certainly benefit from these kind donations.

"People like Gillian and Alan are gold dust to the community, well done to everyone involved."

To donate to Mrs Clarkson's fundraiser follow the link: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=GillianClarkson2&pageUrl=1