A ST ANN’S Chapel resident and freemason is aiming to complete a 90-mile walk to raise money for two charities.

Neythen Woolford is planning to walk from Land’s End to Cotehele Lodge in Calstock over three and a half days next month to raise money for charities Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) and Mind.

Neythen, who is the charity steward and chair at Cotehele Lodge of Cornish Freemasons in Calstock is passionate about giving back and helping his community in any way he can.

‘I like to give back to the community I’ve grown up in,’ said Neythen.

‘I was born in Drakewalls and I now live in St Ann’s Chapel. I’ve sat on the parish council and also helped to set up a community group in St Ann’s. I can’t do a lot but I can always give a bit of time to give back.’

Neythen explained that taking on the challenge is something he has thought about doing and decided he could couple this with supporting two deserving charities. He also added that he hopes to promote the positive work freemasons do.

Neythen said: ‘I thought it would be a nice idea to walk from Lands End to Cotehele Lodge, which is the most easterly lodge in Cornwall. Along the way we will visit some other lodges throughout Cornwall so we can meet other freemasons and hopefully promote freemasonry in a positive way because I know there is stigmatism, mainly due to factual inaccuracy from years gone by. I would like to promote freemasonry for the good it actually does, as fundamentally we raise a lot of money for charity.’

Some of the local causes the group at Cotehele Lodge have previously donated money to have included Gunnislake, Calstock and St Dominick football clubs and Calstock memorial garden.

Neythen’s fundraising target for his charity walk is £5000 to support TLC; a charity that provides cuddly bears to Accident & Emergency departments for staff to give to children to reduce distress, and mental health charity, Mind.

So far Neythen has raised just under £500 and hopes to raise as much as he can for the causes.

‘I feel that these are both important charities. I think mental health is never really spoken about enough and I think everyone can benefit from their support at any stage of their life. Also I’ve got a 14-month old daughter and the fact that my daughter could benefit from TLC is excellent.’

Neythen will embark upon his walk on Thursday September 7 hoping to complete a mammoth 32 miles on this first day and to be accompanied by a couple of other walkers, and he is also inviting others to join him along the way. He will be returning to Cotehele Lodge on Sunday September 10 where the group will also be holding an open day from 12 noon which will coincide with the completion of the walk.

A link to the Just Giving page can be found at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/landsendtocalstockwalk2023?utm_term=YRPr5VrKX