YORK business owner Catherine Adamson will wild camp and walk 109-miles along the Cleveland Way to raise money for charities helping vulnerable children – and to highlight the issue of failed adoption.

Catherine, 51, from Huntington, is raising money for The Island, which supports young people in York who are struggling to cope at home, at school, or in the wider community, as well as SASH, which targets youth homelessness.

Catherine said the walk also marked the tenth anniversary of her business, Kaleidoscope Virtual Assistant Services, and her desire to raise awareness of the lack of support for adults and children post adoption.

Several years ago Catherine and husband Bill adopted two children from outside York and North Yorkshire, but sadly it didn’t work out. The couple felt the children were in desperate need of more professional support for past trauma/mental health issues which wasn’t available to them.

After a two-year adoption process, the couple had to make the agonising decision to end the placement.

Catherine now wants to make sure other people avoid the heartbreak they encountered by supporting local charities offering help to young people.

She said: “Four years ago my husband and I were totally devastated by the loss of two children as a result of adoption disruption.

“It was clear to us that the support needed by vulnerable children was just not available. There was no money and no urgency to the long-term support that was needed.

“I can’t do anything now for the children we lost, but I want to try and make a difference to the lives of other children and young people. I want to try to prevent what happened to our children from happening again.”

Catherine will be setting off on Saturday June 2 from Helmsley and will spend the next seven days walking the 109 miles to Filey. She said: “This is a real triple challenge. The walking itself will be tough, the wild camping scary and a very new experience, and carrying all of my gear is going to be a struggle.”

To find our more and donate, visit her fundraising page at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CatherineAdamson