Fundraisers from Bluebird Care Gosport brave Storm Ciara for charity walk to support The Silver Line

Two members of staff from Bluebird Care Gosport took on a 58-mile trek through wind and rain to raise funds for The Silver Line, a confidential 24-hour telephone helpline for individuals suffering from loneliness.

Stuart McIndoe, business operations manager, planned to walk between Bluebird Care offices in Seaford to Exeter - a hike which would see him cross 215 miles.

After a mammoth effort of 158 miles last May, Stuart had to postpone the walk in Abbotsbury as he had a serious foot injury and could not continue.

The other half of the walk was completed on February 9 to take on the 58-mile stretch between Abbotsbury and Exeter, with Stuart being joined by his colleague, PR and marketing executive Josie Hutsby.

As they took on the first 25 miles, Kat Thomas, director of Bluebird Care Gosport, kept a close eye on weather updates and booked the pair somewhere warm to stay.

Josie said: ‘Kat made the sensible decision to book a BnB so Stuart and I could sleep and get our clothes dry as the rain and wind was unbelievably strong, and we were soaking wet.

However, bad luck and injury struck the fundraising efforts for the second time.

‘We set off the next day around 8am and we were around six miles in and unfortunately my hip was in excruciating pain and I couldn’t move my leg very well,’ said Josie.

Stopping off to see a physiotherapist in Sidmouth, Josie had to retire from the walk due to hip strain.

Stuart soldiered on and finished, with Frankie Rowe from the Bluebird Care Exmouth team joining Stuart on the last 10 miles to Exeter.

Stuart said: ‘We picked the weekend in advance, which turned out to be a bit unfortunate on the weather front, however it was an incredible experience and such an achievement. It felt good to get warm again and dry.’

The team has raised £2,975.32 so far for the charity, with an extra £600 to go until their target.