Group of friends set for 50km hiking and workout challenge on South Downs in memory of two Heathfield girls

Two of the group’s members, Matt Vince and Marcellus Edmonds, who are cousins through marriage, both lost a daughter in 2022, just six weeks apart from each other.

Matt’s daughter Luna-Rose passed away at age three, having been born in 2019 with Global Development Delay, a rare genetic condition that meant she was immobile, non-verbal and had epileptic seizures.

Marcellus’s daughter Jemima passed away at eight years old following an asthma attack.

Now, these two Heathfield fathers are part of a group aiming to complete a 50km hike for Evelina London Children’s Charity and the Chailey Heritage Foundation. They have named it ‘Carry The Load’ because the team members also have to carry gym equipment the entire way.

Matt, a 36-year-old construction worker, from Heathfield, said: “I think a good ‘run’ will take 18 hours, but I think realistically it will be 20 hours.”

He said: “We’re setting off at 6pm on Friday, September 18, and then we are going through the night, and then we should be finished by midday Saturday.”

People can donate to the fundraiser at givewheel.com/fundraising/19072/DoveAndRose.

Matt said the starting point will be Jack and Jill Windmill at Clayton and the finishing point will be Helen Garden in Eastbourne.

He explained that the group is carrying: a rowing machine, a barbell, two 10kg plates and a skipping rope. The group also has to stop every 5km to complete a workout. One workout on its own is 400 squats, 400 deadlifts and 400 bench presses for a team of four to share between them before they can pack up and go again. Plus, all of this has to be done inside 24 hours.

Matt said the challenge is ‘going to be a tough one’ but he said he wants to support Chailey Heritage Foundation. He said: “When we had our first daughter she was born with learning difficulties. Obviously, being first time parents is hard enough, but we had a child who needed a lot of extra care. And Chailey was a place that just made us feel so welcome and just helped us massively throughout the early parts of her life, as they do for many other parents as well. It’s just an amazing place. They go above and beyond for kids.”

Matt added: “We’ve done plenty of training hikes and it’s really set in how hard this is going to be when you’re carrying that sort of weight. 20 kilos doesn’t seem like a lot but when you’re carrying that over 50km it’s going to be very, very painful I think. But all for a good cause.”

Marcellus, 43, a church pastor, said his daughter Jemima had mild asthma, like many children have, and had never been hospitalised with it until 2022.

But he said she suddenly had a serious asthma attack and died very shortly afterwards. Marcellus said Jemima was first taken to Pembury Hospital and was then moved to the Evelina London Children’s Hospital where she was in a coma for three or four days.

Marcellus said he now wants to raise money for the Evelina London Children’s Charity. He said: “The service that they gave was quite extraordinary. One of the nurses patted her hair while she was in a coma and there was an incredible level of care and compassion from the nurses there.”

He continued: “They really care for people in their most difficult and nasty moments and they do it with real excellence, both medically and while maintaining a human touch.”

Marcellus said he is not looking forward to the physical exertion of the Carry The Load challenge. But he said: “There will be a good sense of comradery and it’s a nice group of lads we’re doing it with.”

He added: “I’ve been told by one of the nutritionists that I can carb-load and eat Ben and Jerry’s ice cream every day for three days leading up to the challenge. So that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Matt Vince has previously raised more than £50,000 for Chailey Heritage Foundation and ran the Brighton Marathon in 2023. In 2024, the group of friends cycled 450 miles between Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon for the Three Peaks Challenge.

The funds raised from Carry The Load will be split equally between Chailey Heritage Foundation and Evelina London Children’s Hospital. It has currently raised more than £4,000 of its £10,000 target.