Forty hospitality workers have completed a 42km charity walk across the Peak District, taking on around 900 metres of ascent and more than 12 hours on their feet to raise £12,697 for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
Photo By Tom Hodgson Photography
Employees from independent hospitality group Longbow Venues set off from The Peacock at Owler Bar on the outskirts of Sheffield at 6.30am on Tuesday 22nd September, beginning their marathon-distance challenge as the sun rose over the Peak District.
The team was led throughout the challenge by Lizzie from What’s Not to Hike, who guided the group across the 42km route and helped keep the walkers going through more than 12 hours on the Peak District trails.
The route connected all six Longbow venues and took in some of the area’s best-known landscapes, including Burbage, Froggatt, Curbar and Baslow edges, as well as the Chatsworth Estate and Haddon Estate woodland.
Along the way, the walkers called at The George at Hathersage, The Maynard in Grindleford, The Peacock at Rowsley and The Charleston in Bakewell before completing the final stretch to The Ashford Arms in Ashford in the Water.
It marks a significant step up from Longbow Venues’ first charity walk in 2025, when 29 members of the team walked 29km and raised more than £6,500 for the charity.
This year, 40 employees signed up, the distance increased by 13km to a full marathon and, following the opening of The Charleston in Bakewell, the route connected every Longbow venue for the first time.
Despite aching feet and increasingly tired legs, spirits remained high throughout the day. Colleagues helped apply blister plasters to each other’s feet, while the team was kept fuelled with homemade sausage rolls at The Peacock at Rowsley and a lunch of sandwiches, hot chips and other treats at The Maynard.
At the finish line, every walker was presented with a commemorative slate coaster bearing the date of the challenge as a memento of completing the 42km route.
Rob Hattersley, Managing Director of Longbow Venues, said:
“Forty-two kilometres across the Peak District sounded like a good idea when we were planning it - I’m not sure everyone would have agreed with me by the final few kilometres!
“But what made me incredibly proud was the way everyone got each other through it. There were people physically pushing colleagues up hills, waiting for each other, clapping as people reached each milestone and constantly checking that everyone was OK. It stopped being about 40 individuals walking 42km and became a real team effort.
“Last year we walked 29km with 29 people and raised more than £6,500, so we deliberately made the challenge much bigger this year. To see so many people from across our venues throw themselves into it - and to have so much support from our guests, suppliers, friends, families and local communities - has been fantastic.
“We’re enormously grateful to everyone who has donated so far. The fundraising page is still open, so if seeing us make it across the finish line persuades a few more people to support Sheffield Children’s, even better.”
Longbow’s Head of Commercial, Andy Shiel-Redfern, played a central part in organising the challenge and completed the full 42km route just weeks after taking part in the Great North Run, also in support of Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
Showing little sign of slowing down, he was back out running the following morning.
Andy said:
“There’s a huge amount that goes into organising something like this behind the scenes - planning a 42km route between six venues, making sure everyone is fed and looked after and getting 40 people safely across the Peak District - so seeing everybody arrive at The Ashford Arms at the end was a brilliant moment.
“We set ourselves a much bigger challenge this year and people really embraced it. From setting off with that beautiful sunrise to reaching each venue along the way and eventually seeing the finish, there were lots of moments that made all the planning worthwhile.
“I recently ran the Great North Run for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity too, so it’s a cause I’m personally very proud to support. The hospital means a great deal to families across this region and raising as much as we can for it is what all of this is ultimately about.”
Alice Houghton, Area Operations Manager at Longbow Venues, was among the participants, and even managed to run the final kilometre.
She said:
“I honestly don't know where the energy for that final kilometre came from! By that point we had been walking all day and everyone's feet were definitely feeling it, but once the finish was in sight there was such a buzz.
“The whole day summed up what I love about our team. Everyone looked out for each other, whether that meant keeping somebody going through a difficult patch, handing out food or quite literally putting blister plasters on each other's feet.
“Crossing the finish line together was an amazing feeling - although I think there were quite a few of us very grateful to sit down with a cold drink afterwards!”
The walk is Longbow Venues’ biggest and most personal fundraising effort of the year, but forms part of wider support for Sheffield Children’s during the hospital’s 150th anniversary year.
Longbow Venues also sponsored King of the Peaks, one of 150 lion sculptures forming the Pride of Yorkshire public art trail marking the hospital’s 150th anniversary and raising funds for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
Sheffield Children’s is one of only three dedicated children’s hospitals in the UK, providing specialist care to children and young people from Sheffield and across the country. Charitable donations support areas including specialist equipment, research, improved facilities and environments designed to make hospital stays as comfortable as possible for young patients and their families.
Every member of the Longbow Venues team taking part in the walk was paid as if it were a standard working day, reflecting the company’s commitment to recognising the time and effort employees were giving to support the charity.
Community support is a central part of the Longbow Venues ethos. The independent hospitality business operates six pubs, hotels and restaurants across the Peak District and also runs an ongoing initiative donating £1 from every dessert sold across its venues to charities and community organisations.
The fundraising page remains open, with the team hoping the completion of the challenge will encourage further donations for Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity.
Donations can be made through the Longbow Venues JustGiving page:
justgiving.com/team/longbowvenuescharitywalk
