TWO rotary club members are set to walk 156 miles for charity.

Chard Rotary Club president, Peter Stefanovic and past president Paul Arnold are starting their challenge on Monday (September 6) to raise money for Children's Hospice South West (CHSW).

The pair are walking between three CHSW hospices, starting their journey at Charlton Farm in Wraxall, North Somerset, then onto Little Bridge House in North Devon and finally finishing at Little Harbour in St. Austell, Cornwall.

Both Peter and Paul have been training for this challenge for months.

"We've gradually built up the mileage and included hill walks in order to build up strength and stamina," said Peter.

"As you can imagine, 'time on feet' is quite an important aspect of the training in order to prepare ourselves for the daily five-hour walk.

"With that in mind, we thought it would be better to go for a daily time rather than push for a daily mileage; hills will make the difference to the mileage.”

They believe the challenge will take between nine and 14 days to complete.

Paul explained the pair had decided to help CHSW as he feels 'extremely fortunate' that all his children and grandchildren are in good health.

“I cannot imagine what the parents of children with life limiting conditions must be going through," he added.

"I feel strongly that the care and support given by Children’s Hospice South West to these children and their families is very important at this difficult time in their lives.”

For Peter, his experience has been quite different- his granddaughter was unwell when she was younger.

Peter added: “I have some understanding of what parents of children with life limiting medical conditions and the wider members of those families are going through, as my granddaughter came close to death as a neonatal.

“The support from everyone concerned, including friends and other family members brought some comfort. I know that Children’s Hospice South West provides this care, and much more in abundance."

Fortunately, Peter’s granddaughter survived, but he vividly remembers the anguish and mental torment that everyone went through when it was believed his granddaughter would not survive.

If you would like to support the pair on their challenge, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/chard-rotary-club.