DOZENS of boys, girls and adults will be taking part in a 50-mile fundraising marathon next month - without using a drop of petrol to help them on their way.

DOZENS of boys, girls and adults will be taking part in a 50-mile fundraising marathon next month - without using a drop of petrol

to help them on their way.

The 1st North Walsham Scout Group is undertaking the relay event, to Yarmouth and back, between 7am and 3.30pm on June 21, using only bicycles and their feet to cover the route.

The Carbon Footprint Sponsored Relay will see as many as possible of the group's 140 Explorers, Scouts, Cubs and Beavers taking part in different legs of the journey, together with parents and adult helpers.

And they will all join together to walk the final stage, through North Walsham Memorial Park to their Midland Road Scout headquarters.

Cash raised will help pay for a wish-list of items, including camping equipment for

use during Scouting activities.

Any surplus will go towards the group's new building fund, to replace the present HQ with a larger and better-equipped facility.

Parent Graham Allchurch, whose son Hayden is a Cub, devised the relay plan after his own charity fundraising success in a number of marathons.

Mr Allchurch, of Pickford Close, North Walsham, raised £5,600 for ChildLine by running in the London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin marathons, dressed either as a slice of pizza or a fairy.

The relay will begin from the Scout hut with parents Tony Webb and Mel Stephen cycling 24 miles to Yarmouth, and then on to Scratby to hand on the baton to Mr Allchurch and fellow North Norfolk Beach Runner John Christopher.

They will run 15 miles to the Weaver's Way at Stalham where Explorers and Scouts will be waiting to continue the course, walking the footpath to Bengate, at Worstead.

There, they will be joined by more Scouts and Cubs for the leg back to Spenser Avenue, North Walsham, where the Beavers, some aged only six, will walk alongside the massed ranks on the home strait.

Meg Rees, fundraising leader for the group and a member of the executive committee, said: “We're very lucky to have Graham helping our Scout group.

“What he's doing highlights the fact that the show must go on.

“Yes, we're raising money for a new building - and first we need £2,000 to apply for planning permission - but we are not losing sight of the fact that the 140 kids in the group need equipment for all their activities.”

Individuals or businesses who would like to sponsor the Scouts can contact Mr Allchurch on 01692 500783.