A FATHER and his three sons are planning to walk 65 miles from Whitby to York this weekend to boost a York charity which helps poverty-stricken Indian children into education.

David McNorton, of Woodthorpe, says he and his sons, Joe, Luke and Gareth, have been training for the 30-hour endurance trek since December, with regular long-distance walks through rain and shine all over Yorkshire.

The four have been planning to leaveWhitby at about 8am this morning. "The route takes us through Glaisdale, Kirkbymoorside, Helmsley and Crayke before entering York near New Earswick. " said Mr McNorton, an IT teacher at York college.

"We will then follow the River Foss down into York where we will finish at the Minster at some time on Sunday morning. It's approximately 106 Km or 65 miles. We are aiming to complete the walk inside 30 hours.

"We have two support teams in two cars that will be helping keep us supplied en route with food, water, changes of clothes for the night time stage."

The walkers have a fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/David-McNorton where people can make donations, with £440 raised of the walkers' £1,000 target.

They also have a facebook page for the walk which includes a map of the route and can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/projectmalawalk.

Mr McNorton said they would be raising money for York-based Project Mala, which was founded in 1989.

"They work to take children in some of the poorest parts of India out of the textile industry and into education," he said. "Since their inception, they have established a number of schools in rural India."

Project Mala says on its website that it is working for the abolition of child labour in the hand knotted carpet industry in India, adding: "Our programme includes education up to secondary school level, hot midday meal for all children and healthcare facilities. Eighty per cent of the funding comes from individual child sponsors." For more information about the charity, go to www.projectmala.org.uk/gb/