She’s turned a few heads in her time, no doubt, but just now North West Vending’s Paula Bentley, (pictured), is raising a few eyebrows instead…
Those who know her can hardly believe it, but Paula will be taking part in a sponsored walk from one side of the country to the other, following Hadrian’s Wall, in order to raise £1,000 for EdUKaid. Hardly a gentle stroll, you might think: and you’d be right; but for the girl who ‘gets blisters on my feet walking to my car’, it’s a tall order.
As if to prove the point, Paula posted a picture of her tortured tootsies after ‘a training walk’, (which, it transpired, consisted of a couple of laps around the houses close to her home). If that’s the damage a stroll on the pavement can do, God alone knows the extent of the damage that the hills, dales and mud of the North Pennines will cause.
Even more remarkable, ‘Our Lady of the Lippy’ will be breaking the journey each night by camping out. ‘I’ll be looking around for somewhere to plug in my hair dryer’, she told (a disbelieving) PV.
Tim Varney, of Revive Vending, is the man behind EdUKaid, a small charity which celebrates its 10th anniversary later this year.
I’ve got a lot of time for Tim’, Paula said. ‘He runs EdUKaid, he’s done a lot of work for it, and he’s a really nice guy. The charity concentrates on the children of rural Tanzania, aiming to ‘improve education and change people’s lives’.
‘It’s about making people self-sufficient’, Paula said, ‘and besides, the children are just adorable.’
There are plenty of cyclists out there that choose a bike ride to raise money for charity, there are bakers who bake and runners who run; but – and trust us on this – Paula Bentley is to walking what Cyril Smith was to gymnastics. If Paula can pull this off, she’ll have to suffer a world of hurt in the process.
That’s why PV will be sponsoring her efforts and we hope that you will, too. You can find her just giving page here.
