A septet of Gwent law firm walkers are taking a well-earned rest after walking the length of Britain and back -virtually.

The splendid seven from Everett Tomlin Lloyd and Pratt are putting their feet up after they walked the equivalent of the distance from Land's End to John O'Groats and back in May.

The seven walkers from the firm, which has offices in Newport and Pontypool, completed the 10,000-steps-a-day in May challenge in aid of Newport-based St David’s Hospice Care.

The walkers joined some 180 other fundraisers, including South Wales Argus community content editor Jo Barnes, taking part in the challenge, which was sponsored by Newport-based Kymin financial planners. A team from Kymin, including managing director Robin Hall, also completed the challenge.

The steppers collectively raised more than £10,000 for the hospice and money is still coming in.

Kirsten Tuck, a partner at the law firm, said: “We all completed the challenge and between us walked some 2,534,672 steps, an average of almost 11,700 a day each. In distance, collectively, we walked 1,163 miles. To put this in perspective, the straight line distance between Land's End and John O’Groats is 603 miles - so you could say we walked the length of Britain and back!”

Probate assistant Chris Lewis was an enthusiastic member of the team, taking almost 430,000 steps and walking 214 miles. In addition to running up her steps and practicing tap dancing, she paired up with office manager Sheila Shorney to walk during the lunch break. Sheila also joined criminal law assistant Hannah Cocks, running after work and on Saturday mornings.

The weather added to the challenge, with May 2021 being one of the wettest on record in Wales, but this didn’t stop the team getting out and about and finding new ways of increasing their step count.

Trainee solicitor, Abbie Toms, found that online exercise classes helped on the rainy days. Criminal assistant Jenna Collins described how she enjoyed exploring the local area on foot, spotting deer at Wentwood Forest and enjoying the beautiful scenery which Gwent has to offer.

Kirsten said: "The pandemic has put a lot of strain on charities such as St David’s Hospice Care which, due to Covid restrictions, had to close shops and cancel many of the events which usually raise significant funds for them. This challenge gave us an opportunity to raise much needed funds while still keeping safe.

"We raised £1,362 between the seven of us, and gift aid will be added to this total. We have all felt the benefit of the additional exercise which has got us out in the fresh air and it’s something we all intend to continue with.”

Tania Ansell, who organised the event for St David's Hospice Care, said: "The commitment and dedication shown by walkers, such as those at Everett Tomlin Lloyd and Pratt Solicitors, to complete what was a really quite demanding challenge is testament not just to the determination of the fundraisers to see it through but also to the high regard and value the entire community has for the hospice and the work that we do."