Fifteen staff from Yorkshire Bank’s North Yorkshire Financial Solutions Centre in York battled against mud and foul weather to complete the Lyke Wake Walk to raise funds for the city’s St Leonard’s Hospice and for Martin House Hospice at Boston Spa. The bankers, all from the Clifton Moor office, were led by Duncan Brock and tackled the 40-mile route over the North York Moors, from Osmotherley to Ravenscar, in 24 hours.

The walkers were supported en route by other staff members.

Each of them was sponsored, and all the money they raised has been matched pound for pound by Yorkshire Bank as part of its partnership with the national charity Help the Hospices. Half the match funding goes to Help the Hospices. The other half, plus all the sponsorship money, is shared by St Leonard’s and Martin House. Each charity will receive £5,452.

Jo Baxter from the North Yorkshire Financial Solutions Centre says, ‘We did the Yorkshire Three Peaks as our charity challenge in 2010 – that was just 26 miles! The Lyke Wake Walk was much worse – hideous, in fact – but we’re very pleased to have done it and raised so much for our two charities.’ Janet Morley, Director of Fundraising at St Leonard’s Hospice, says, ‘The Lyke Wake Walk is well known as one of the most challenging of tests for charity walkers, and it’s very brave of our Yorkshire Bank supporters to have slogged through what sound to have been atrocious conditions! We are very grateful to them for their perseverance and for raising such a magnificent amount of money for the work of the Hospice in caring for local people with life-threatening illnesses.’