Waterside General Manager is set to take on the Great Wall of China for Florence Nightingale Hospice

The venue manager signed up to the mammoth challenge as part of his New Year’s Resolution to get fit. He said: "I am feeling excited and at the same time terrified about the adventure I am about to embark on!

"This is no ‘walk in the park’; it is going to require months of training and getting myself into tip-top condition.

"Over the next ten months I’ll be exercising at every given point and building myself up in order to walk continuous days.

"The trek itself will consist of walking along The Great Wall of China for nine consecutive days along differing terrains and in testing conditions."

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre has a longstanding history of supporting the local charity since opening in 2010.

Since then bucket collections have been held annually in support of the charity throughout the pantomime season, the venue’s hosted bake offs, entered teams to take part in their main summer fundraiser the Midnight Walk, and in 2015 staff walked from Aylesbury to London in an epic 52 mile fundraiser in association with that year’s family pantomime, Dick Whittington.

Lee explained that he has lots of fundraising ideas in store to achieve his sponsorship target, and has already raised £170:

‘"Alongside the ten month training period I will be hosting a number of fundraising activities in order to reach the £3,300 sponsorship target. (another challenge in itself!)

"Raising money for Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity is my number one priority, their work is formidable and they’re an amazing charity; I cannot wait to be able to raise funds for such a worthy cause.

"Currently we have a Stage Door Tuck Shop set up with staff donating in return for treats – luckily for me the team has a very sweet tooth so that’s proving fruitful!"

To find out more about Lee’s progress visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lee-duffy4