Tracey Howe will take on the 5000 mile hike dubbed “Tracey’s Trek”
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGES PROVIDED
A woman will walk the entire British coastline in a year-long hike to raise money for charity, following the death of her wife.
Tracey Howe, 60, is set to depart Glasgow on 1 November for the hike, which is 5,000 miles long. She aims to raise £100,000 for several cancer charities in memory of her late wife, Angela White.
“Angela left a horrific gaping hole in my life when she passed away last September aged 58,” said Tracey. “But I want to turn my grief into a positive.”
Tracey revealed that, after Angela died, she fell into a “deep depression”. But their dog, Poppy, needed to be walked and, through this, Tracey found walking to be a way for reconnecting with life and nature. “The activity became a kind of therapy.”
The walk, which has been entitled Tracey’s Trek, is also inspired by the trips around the British coastline that the couple used to take in their motorhome. “I think about Angela everyday and I talk to her while I’m walking, so this is a pilgrimage of sorts.”
Tracey’s Trek will take a year to complete. She aims to walk 20 miles a day, six days a week. She will also hand out 5,000 crocheted hearts, one for each mile. The money it raises will be donated to several charities, including Beatson Cancer Charity and Marie Curie.
She said: “The NHS, The Beatson and Marie Curie gave our family tremendous support when Angela was diagnosed with cancer.” Angela had two forms of blood cancers – myeloma and amyloidosis –which her doctors described as the “most aggressive” they had ever seen.
Tracey also chose to support the brainstrust as her wife had previously suffered from a brain tumour. She said: “It was such a cruel blow that Angela was recovering from the brain tumour when we found out about the cancers. Tragically, she died only months later.”
The other two charities, Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel, were chosen by Tracey’s sister-in-law, who currently has breast cancer. Friends, family and Poppy the dog, will accompany Tracey in a motorhome and members of the public are welcome to join her for a few miles.
She has already received support from several organisations. Asda have offered her meals in their supermarket cafes and Gary Maclean, the National Chef of Scotland, has created menus of meals that can be made in the motorhome. Scottish musicians The Proclaimers have also let her adapt the lyrics of their hit I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) to “I would walk 5,000 miles” for her journey.
You can still support Tracey’s Trek by heading to her fundraising page to donate money.
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