Norwich City's Grant Holt completes walk for children's hospices

Holt said he looked forward to having a Chinese takeaway and getting some sleep

A former Norwich City striker has completed a 46-mile walk (74km) to raise money for a group of children's hospices.

Grant Holt, 42, trekked through the night from Ipswich to The Nook hospice in Framingham Earl, near Norwich.

His fundraising feat for East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) took him 21 hours.

Holt said he looked forward to having a Chinese takeaway and getting some sleep.

"It was probably the hardest thing I have done for a long, long time," he said.

"One minute your foot was sore, then your back was sore, then your knee was sore and then your feet would get sore. In the end, you've just got to keep going."

Holt said he only stopped for three 40-minute breaks

Holt completed the challenge in two hours longer than expected and was accompanied by support workers.

Despite a fear of heights, the father-of-three took part in a fundraising skydive last year and said he intended to organise another challenge next year.

He said he was buoyed into action by hearing about the £14.5m the children's charity has to raise each year to support itself.

"You get through mentally because you know what you're doing it for," Holt said.

"[The Nook] is an unbelievable place and there's unbelievable things happen here. Unfortunately you only see that when the worst things happen to you.

"I wish people knew more about what they [EACH] do and how much work goes on here."

EACH's Caroline Allen said the former Norwich City star had taken on a "mammoth challenge" for the charity

EACH looks after children and young people with life-limiting/threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, north Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, and also supports their families.

Corporate fundraising manager Caroline Allen said Holt had taken on a "mammoth challenge" for the charity, which spends £8,600 per day on running each hospice.

"A lot of voluntary donations are needed - we get 15% in government funding and the rest is made up through fundraising or retail," she said.

"We need a lot of people like Grant... we couldn't do it without people like him." 

Holt played for the Canaries between 2009 and 2013 and was voted supporters' player of the year three times.