Woman, 89, completes 90-mile walk along coast

An 89-year-old woman has completed a 90-mile charity fundraising walk along the South East coastline.

Pam Brooks finished the trek from Selsey, West Sussex, to Winchelsea Beach in East Sussex, on Tuesday.

In celebration of her 90th birthday in November, Ms Brooks, from Rustington, began the 12-day walk on 5 July.

She completed the challenge to raise funds and awareness of a Mothers' Union programme that supports literacy and savings programmes in Burundi, East Africa.

Ms Brooks lives in Rustington with her husband, Pat, but the pair's links with Burundi date back to 1957 when Ms Brooks first travelled there with Church Mission Society.

They lived in Burundi, one of the world's most impoverished nations, until 1979, and since 1993 have visited every year during Lent until 2014.

During the trips, Ms Brooks visited projects initiated by Mothers’ Union groups aimed at promoting literacy and income-generating activities.

"I wanted to commemorate my birthday in a meaningful way, but the thought of extreme activities like skydiving or cliff abseiling didn't resonate with me,” she said.

“The programme has pushed me on. I’m doing this for Burundi.”

The funds raised will support the Literacy and Financial Education Programme of the Mothers’ Union in Burundi.

Chris Emson, a trustee of Mothers’ Union in Chichester, said the programme “empowered” women to learn to read and write.

“That is very important to them, especially for their families because women there usually are not educated as well as the boys,” he said.

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