A volunteer for the Education Futures Trust has walked the 15 miles from Eastbourne to Hastings to raise money for the charity.

Mark Ripley, who was awarded ‘Volunteer of the Year’ in the Hastings Volunteer Action (HVA) volunteer awards 2019 completed his walk last Tuesday. Mark has volunteered with the charity for four years, after first making contact via their Without Walls conservation course.

Despite having his own struggles with homelessness and needing to make an hour and a half round trip, on foot, to get to EFT, since volunteering, Mark has found his voice and chats regularly with staff and volunteers about birds, plants and sharing his learning.

To raise much needed funding for EFT, and to say thanks to the charity, Mark decided to do what he does best – walk! The 15 mile walk from Eastbourne to Hastings saw him walk along the shingle beach and took him six and a half hours in total, all funds raised will go towards funding the EFT’s food hampers, which are given to local families in need.

“I’m really pleased that I could do this walk,” Mark says.

“The Education Futures Trust help people through tough times and have helped me build my confidence. I decided to do the walk to help raise funds, so they can carry on the good work they are doing providing people with food.”

• If you’re able to donate to Mark’s cause, visit
• https://localgiving.org/fundraising/markswalk/

The Education Futures Trust is a charity helping local families, children and individuals, through keyworkers working local in schools and by providing alternative and outdoor education with sports, wellbeing, forest schools and conservation. They are also currently providing food hampers to local families to help through this difficult time.