SCOUTS are to stage a sponsored walk from Windermere to Tadcaster to help fund leukaemia research -32 years after an assistant Scout leader died from the cancer.

Andrew Oliver, who was a cub, scout and venture scout before eventually becoming an assistant scout leader at the Tadcaster Troop, died of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in 1986 despite undergoing a bone marrow transplant from his sister Helen the previous year.

His mother Sue Natkus said that in 1992, an intrepid group of Tadcaster Scout Leaders, young people, families and friends completed a walk from Bowness on lake Windermere back to Tadcaster.

The event raised funds for the Scout Group in order to build the current Scout Hut and also for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, now known as Bloodwise.

She said the new walk at the end of this month would re-create the previous one 26 years on and raise funds solely for Bloodwise, which tackled blood cancers.

John Swift, Group Scout Leader at 1st Tadcaster Scout Group, said the teams of walkers started the 104-mile walk in 1992 by the side of Lake Windermere and filling a one litre container with water.

This was carried in relay back to the Scout hut where it was used to pour the first mix of concrete for the new scout hut, which the group continue to use today.

Now the group was following exactly the same route and timings as those used in 1992.

They start at 7pm on Friday, June 29 and finishing in Tadcaster at the scout hut on the afternoon of Sunday, July 1 for drinks and refreshments.

The relay tradition would be maintained by transferring water from the lake into the river at a ceremony at 3pm on the Sunday.

“We are inviting everyone associated with the group, past or present, to get involved by joining the service team, or by raising money by sponsoring a member of the scout group taking part in the hike through sponsor forms,” he said. “Parents and families are invited to take part in two sections of the walk, Beckermonds to Kettlewell and Wetherby to Tadcaster. We have T Shirts and wristbands available for sale, all proceeds to go to the charity and collection buckets are available if anyone is able to display one."

For details, visit tadcaster-scouts.org.uk or email john.swift@tadcaster-scouts.org.uk. To sponsor Sue, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/sue-natkus.