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Norfolk dads take on Coast to Coast walk for hospital baby unit

Martin Church Matt Dyke, left, and Martin Church on a training walkMartin Church
Matt Dyke, left, and Martin Church are raising funds for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit

Two dads who have had children born prematurely are walking the width of England to help a hospital baby unit.

Friends Martin Church and Matt Dyke aim to walk 190 miles (306km) in five days to raise funds for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit.

Both of Mr Church's children, Charlie and Mabel, were helped by the unit and Mr Dyke's daughter Rosa was five weeks premature in 2014.

The pair set off on Wednesday.

Mr Church's son Charlie arrived eight weeks early in 2018 and his daughter Mabel was 14 weeks premature in December 2021, weighing 820g (13oz), less than a bag of sugar.

"The neo-natal unit is brilliant," said Mr Church.

"They cared for Mabel for three months before she was allowed home - monitoring her breathing, heart and jaundice problems day and night, and also supported the whole family."

The 41-year-old from Horsford, near Norwich, added: "Mabel was tiny. She could fit in my hand, and her nappies were the size of a tea bag. At 15 months she's now making good progress and weighs 7.6kg (1st 3lb)

Martin Church Martin Church's daughter Mabel in the neo natal unit and on the right, a pic of her as a healthy babyMartin Church
Mr Church's daughter Mabel was born 14 weeks premature and spent three months in hospital - at 15 months, she is "making good progress"

The two friends, with three others, previously did an 83-mile (134 km) Norfolk coastal walk in 2020 that raised £5,500 for the baby unit, but vowed "never again" after the 36-hour marathon left them exhausted.

But when Mabel was born it sparked the new challenge, which they said would be even tougher.

Visit England/Cumbria Tourism/Brian Sherwen St Bees Head, CumbriaVisit England/Cumbria Tourism/Brian Sherwen
The Coast to Coast path runs from St Bee's Head in Cumbria...
Visit England Robin Hoods BayVisit England
...to Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire

The duo's Coast to Coast route, devised by famous writer and walker Alfred Wainwright, takes them through the Lake District, over the Pennines and across the North York Moors, before finishing at Robin Hood's Bay.

They aim to walk more than 15 hours a day and have a target of £5,750, which represents £500 for each of the 11-and-a-half weeks the unit cared for Mabel.

Mr Dyke, 37, from North Walsham, Norfolk, said: "The mileage and the hills, which seem never-ending on the training walks, will be a real challenge, but we want to help the ward's future success stories similar to Mabel's."

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