A MOSSLEY coffee shop owner is literally putting his best foot forward by walking coast to coast for a group borne out of tragedy.
Peter Keenan, who runs Brew on the Brow on Manchester Road, will be trekking from
St Bede’s Head in Cumbria, on the west coast of England, to Robin Hood’s Bay, on the east coast – a total of 192 miles.
Accompanied in part by Jay Hallows from June 25, he is inspired by the story behind George’s Den, the cause set up in memory of Mossley’s George’s Den, which is being set up by 1st Mossley Scout Group at their Baden House base in memory of George Butterworth-Sice.
George was a Beaver, Cub and Scout before he tragically died just before his 14th birthday last year.
And hearing of the way pals have reacted to the awful news meant Peter – a former serviceman – just had to put them on his list of causes.
The man who also has Oldham Mountain Rescue Team benefitting from the trek said: “I went to see Scout leader Tanya Claridge and George’s mates at Baden House, I was just astounded by them.
“We ask a lot of kids and we’re very quick to come down on them. Then you’ve got a group that has not only had to cope with Covid-19, they’ve had to cope with losing their best mate.
“How they’ve coped with it, with the drive and passion they have, and seeing what it means to them meant a lot.
“A few years ago, I lost a close friend to a similar type of disease to George and she had a four-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl.
“She died a week before my wedding and I still carry a little card from her funeral with me. I see the similarities with the pain and the grief.
“And what these people are doing is purely out of love and passion. It reminded of our friend’s children, they were very strong young kids.”
Peter is still out training for his walk, pounding the pavements, footpaths and moors around the area.
Even he, though, admits there are some things he will not be able to prepare for.
He added: “The walk will be 14 days, averaging 14-and-a-half miles a day. Although the maximum day is between 23 and 24.
“But I’ve been doing six or seven miles every other day.
“We’re training well above the pace we’d walk at too, similar to when I was in the Army when we’d train harder than you’ll probably work at.
“However, the surfaces and weather conditions I can’t train for. We go through three pf the worst national parks for weather – it may be June but it could be snowing at the top of the hills!”
Peter and Jay have set a fundraising target of £5,000 and are around the £2,000 mark so far.
But while the main beneficiaries are George’s Den and OMRT, there have been one or two personal boost, not least the more than two stone in weight the 48-yrear-old has lost.
Peter told The Correspondent: “I am looking forward to it actually. I struggled after coming out of the Army as I missed the goals the military would set me and the goals.
“So I’ve set little goals along the way and said, ‘I’m going to push myself as much as I can.’ I’d heard the stories of George and OMRT, so I said, ‘How about if I set myself a goal of raising money for these two?’
“I feel in a better place than I was. Setting the shop up was a goal and I’m hoping the walk will show people no matter how far you think you’ve gone down, you can come back.
“It’s showing people they can set themselves goals – it doesn’t have to be a 200-mile walk, it can be just getting to tomorrow, it can be seeing a friend. Small goals can lead to big goals and they’ve helped me go forward.”
As well as the money raised, which will be split evenly, Peter and Jay have received support from local businesses, including Dovestone Holiday Park, Tumbles Play Centre, Andrew Lees Upholstery and a number of local pubs and businesses in Mossley.
• You can donate to Peter and Jay’s fundraising effort at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/georgesden-omrt-c2c-2022