When Southwell YFC member Gabi Pritchard knew a local family needed support to raise funds to treat a life-threatening disease, she turned to her club for ideas. One conversation led to an epic hike across Nottinghamshire and more than £6,000 raised towards treatment for a family in urgent need.
Along with three other members of Southwell YFC, I walked 73 miles from the very top to the very bottom of Nottinghamshire across three days. We camped out along the way, with two support drivers providing our drinks and everything we needed.
I have grown up with JoJo and Rachael Wells who live in my village and they both have mitochondrial disease. It’s basically a disease where the cells in your body can't make energy. Both JoJo and Rachael Wells have deteriorated over the years, and Rachael is now completely reliant on her parents and machines to keep her alive. She’s only 27 and both of them could have been enjoying life in Young Farmers.
There’s no treatment or cure for the disease but a new gene therapy has been developed and the family are trying to raise £450,000 to get access to this potentially life-changing treatment. They would be the first people ever to try the therapy but they need to have raised the money by June 2027.
It's the first time there has been some hope for the family so I knew I had to do something to help.
It takes a couple of hours to drive across Nottinghamshire, so I knew it was going to be hard work to walk it.
It was great to see the countryside in Nottinghamshire – there were some amazing views. The first day we walked down the canal quite a bit, which was nice and lovely and flat. Across the countryside there were a few farmers that we knew that suggested a couple of short cuts across some fields, so we could cut some corners off.
We’re all as mad as each other! When there’s something close to your heart like that, they’re all more than happy to help.
I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own. It was such a physical and mental challenge, walking 73 miles. I knew it was going to be hard but it was amazing to have those people around supporting each other.
JoJo who is the same age as me, 23, joined us for a short part of the walk through the village but he was worn out from that. He would have done anything to be able to do it with us.
It’s about supporting the community and being part of the community. So when we go to all our events that we do throughout the summer, and we take our hook a duck and all the challenges that we do, it's about creating that community around us.
We've got a good relationship with White Post Farm now, and we host a Big Machinery Day for them at their farm. It’s giving back. We've managed to get so many opportunities for Young Farmers, and whether it's raising money for Young Farmers to keep it going or raising money for another charity, it's all very important.
Just completing the challenge itself, you realise how much you are actually capable of. We also made some great new connections with sponsors and supporters.
It was also nice just meeting loads of random people across Nottinghamshire. Everyone was so lovely as we passed them on the walk.
Yeah, I think it always does when you have that opportunity to just spend time together. And we were stuck together for three days, and you've got to talk about something! We managed to keep everyone together and keep us all going to the end.
When we finished the walk, we were all very much not keen to walk for a little while.
But we know what we can achieve. Going for nice walks around the Peak District would be lovely but to go and do something for charity again and make that difference would be amazing. It’s so great to know that you've made a difference in life.
Just message everyone. I know we always ask people for a lot in Young Farmers to buy things and to use the site for stuff, but for something like this, people are willing to give as much as they can. Just ask the question. You never know. The worst they can say is no. Everything is possible, with support.
To donate to support Southwell YFC’s fundraiser for the Wells’ family, visit here.
