Woman, 82, walks 50 laps of moor tarn for charity

The Tarn is a beauty spot on Ilkley Moor, popular with dog walkers, runners and families

An 82-year-old woman is walking around a West Yorkshire tarn 50 times to raise money for a charity helping older people.

Sheila Mahon, a trustee of Ilkley and District Good Neighbours, came up with the Ilkley Tarn challenge to mark the charity's 50th anniversary.

The tarn is a well-known beauty spot on Ilkley Moor, popular with dog walkers, and has a 500m (1,640 ft) footpath running around its edge.

Ms Mahon, who uses walking poles to help with her mobility, is walking 10 laps a day for five days and aimed to complete the 15-mile (24 km) goal on Friday.

Discussing the moment she suggested the challenge, which had raised more than £1,000 so far, she said: "It was said off the cuff, and then I came up here and measured it and it was 15 miles.

"I thought, I can't do 15 miles because I have a trapped nerve in my back, so I'm doing it over the course of a week."

Sheila Mahon suggested the walk before realising the combined overall distance

Ms Mahon had been joined by friends and fellow staff and trustees of the charity during parts of the challenge, with her children planning on accompanying her on Friday.

"I have had to do a lot of preparation so I've been walking two to three miles around Ilkley each day to get ready," she said.

"I keep up a reasonable pace, but that's because it's flat - it would be different if I was going up to the top of the moor!"

Fellow trustees and staff at the charity have been joining in, along with their dogs

Hannah Walton, who works at Ilkley and District Good Neighbours, said the charity offered friendship schemes, support with shopping, a dementia hub and various projects aiming to reduce isolation.

"Getting funding in the current climate can be really difficult and we just want to make sure that we can be here for another 50 years supporting people," she said.

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