A couple of years ago I issued a challenge to our Cubs – walk 10 miles in one day – the “Big Ten”. I had every confidence that they could all do this, but to make it easier we organised a circular walk around Norland Moor, with each circuit being 2½ miles long. This way, if any needed to drop out they could do so at the end of a circuit and we would never be more than a mile from the base. Here we are, two years later and the second event.

As two years ago, we decided to make it into a sponsored event to raise money for the Great Hope Junior & Infants School in Nakaseke, Uganda, which provides a quality education to over 200 of the poorest children you can imagine.

On the day of the hike, 20 Cubs set off and the first two laps were completed by lunchtime. The third lap, with full tummies after lunch was the hard one, with legs starting to ache. The forth and last lap was more of a celebration circuit.

They all walked the full 10 miles without any problems apart from the occasional boot rubbing. Who says kids cannot walk this distance? They are only limited by what they can see and what others tell them they can’t do. All they need is encouragement and they can achieve far more than you could imagine. I can remember a conversation with a Cub some years ago after a day’s hike – “How far have we walked?” “About 7 miles” “I can’t walk that far!” “You just have” “Oh… yes…”

With all the sponsorship money collected in we have raised over £500!