a 106km walk around the island – to fundraise for two very important charities, Pandas Foundation and Tommy’s. They have a fundraising target of over £1,000, and have raised about 25% so far.
Leighton Town FC have donated two season tickets for the 2024-25 season to support their fundraising campaign and we’re sharing their stories below for 2 reasons. Firstly to help Gemma and Daniel meet their Charity target by encouraging our fantastic supporters to donate, (links below), and secondly to raise awareness of the issues faced by so many people during pregnancy and afterwards. Here’s Gemma and Daniel’s story:

“We’re so unbelievable grateful for everyone’s support so far. The trek will take anywhere between 24 – 35 hours; we’re hoping to get as close to 26 hrs as possible! We’ve been training (as much as you can train for a walk!) by trekking as often and as much as we can – easier said than done with two littles ones in tow! We’re doing 40 – 50km a week at the moment and luckily still have a few weeks left to keep building up the long distances. Blister plasters at the ready!!
The charities we’ve chosen are very close to our hearts.
Pandas Foundation is a small charity, completely dependent on donations, who support families suffering with mental health challenges that may appear during pregnancy and post birth. 1 in 4 mums / 1 in 10 dads will suffer at some point. Their aim is to make sure no parent, family or carer feels alone.
Pandas is a charity I wish we had found and reached out to early on in Gem’s motherhood journey - it's really only since having our second child that we've realised how unwell she was after our first. Gem talks more openly now, but by her own admission never really owned up to the fact that she was struggling – maternal mental health still feels like a bit of a taboo subject - so now we’re on a mission to raise awareness and funds to help others who may be struggling.
Tommy’s is a charity who fund research into pregnancy & pregnancy complications - miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth. We, and some of those closest to us, have experienced baby loss & it’s devastating impacts... Our first pregnancy ended in a silent miscarriage, we found out at our 12 week scan - all the joy and excitement that had built up in those weeks prior was shattered in seconds. In the UK, 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in loss - hopefully with your help we can raise funds to support the research & increase awareness around complications & baby loss!

Thank you so much LTFC for sharing our endeavours and supporting us to make a difference!” – Daniel and Gemma Nevin

https://pandasfoundation.enthuse.com/pf/gemma-nevin

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/isleofwhite100kultrachallenge