A TEAM of walkers from Dorchester have successfully completed a trek in aid of the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust.

Four men and women under the banner of the Dorchester Stompers, completed around 180 miles on their walk around Scotland.

The team, most of whom work at Dorchester Police Station, made excellent progress as they tackled a route along the West Highland and Great Glen Way.

They completed the 79-mile section of the Great Glen Way in just three days, which was a major achievement according to Stomper PCSO Mark Wodarek-Black.

He said: “Everyone we spoke to said we must be mad, normally people do it in five or six days and we did it in three.

“Apparently it’s been five years since someone did it in three days.”

Joining PCSO Wodarek-Black on the trek were Tony Freudenfeld, Daniel Ling, Sarah Pilcher, Kristy Heron, Vickie Hedges, Geoff Hicks and Wendy Bainbridge.

PCSO Wodarek-Black said the team were all pleased with their progress on the trip, particularly as they had all been affected by cancer in some way and were raising money for the Weldmar for personal reasons.

He said: “We were walking ten or eleven hours a day.

“Generally speaking the weather wasn’t bad and the team got on really well.

“Everyone got tired towards the end and on the last day when we got to Inverness everyone was quite emotional because some people have never walked that distance before.

“It was actually a great feeling that everyone completed it.”

He added: “It was a struggle towards the end but everyone did it.”

The team are still collecting donations and hope to announce the total amount they have raised in the coming weeks.

They had set a target of £3,000 and were given a boost when Dorchester based Magna Housing Association agreed to sponsor the team with £250.

Donations can still be made online at justgiving.com/mark-wodarek-black or in person at Dorchester Police Station.