AN ANDOVER woman who is walking from Land’s End to John o’ Groats to raise money for a mental health charity is seeking help to reach her destination.

Mental health trainer Jude Prince is nearing the end of her epic 1,200-mile walk, which she is doing to raise funds for Walk N Talk 4 Mental Health, but she is running out of funds.

With comedian Al Murray as an ambassador, and supported by donations from the public, Jude has walked the majority of the distance alone – sometimes in extreme weather conditions and on difficult terrain – being joined by other volunteers for some of the route.

Donations have supported her with food and accommodation along the route, but these funds have run dry with only a few weeks left of the journey.

Jude said she needs more help and donations to complete the journey. She has set in sponsorship to enable her local walks to continue.

Walk N Talk was founded by Jude in 2020 during the second national lockdown. She recognised an increased need for open conversations about mental health, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The charity aims to normalise discussion about mental health and offers the opportunity to get together and walk either in groups or on a 1:2:1 basis with a trained mental health first aider; there are currently weekly walking groups in Romsey, Andover and Basingstoke, with Jude hoping to set up more groups in the future.

Jude said: “The more we talk about it, the more we realise we are not alone with our mental health issues, that many others have been there too.”

Donations raised through LEJOG will be used to fund ongoing and future walks and to train more mental health first aiders to help lead these.

Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/walk-n-talk-4-mental-health.

There are currently weekly group walks in Andover, Basingstoke, and Romsey, details of which can be found on the website: walk-and-talk.co.uk.