'Nobody should be alone on Christmas Day'

Walking groups are heading into the hills on Christmas Day, with organisers saying "nobody should be alone if they don't want to be".

Newcastle Hiking has a walk planned in Northumberland, with a separate group meeting in Keswick, Cumbria.

Steve Upton, from Newcastle, decided to organise one after he spent Christmas on his own in the past, which left him feeling "completely broken".

Leader of the Lake District walk Jay Mistry said: "It just gets bigger each year and absolutely everyone is welcome."

"My parents were in the States for Christmas one year, and I was on my own and I thought there must be other people like me," Mr Mistry said.

"I did Scafell Pike in 2019 but that was a big day out, then there was Covid and in 2021 we did Catbells and 15 people turned up.

"In 2022, we did Latrigg which is quite accessible and we had 68, and last year it was 78."

The group meet at Moot Hall in Keswick at 10:00 GMT.

Newcastle Hiking held its first Christmas Day walk in 2023.

"It went really well, we did two walks in the Lake District - it was a really big success, people enjoyed coming along," Mr Upton said.

This year, the walk will take place in the Simonside Hills near Rothbury, meeting at 08:30.

"It means that more people in our neck of the woods will be able to come, we have no idea how many, but we hope we'll get a big group," Mr Upton added.

"Last year we had people on their own, a father and son, my parents came, there was just a lovely atmosphere."

"Christmas is such a tough time for lots of people," Mr Mistry said.

"I just hope knowing you can join a group and spend the day in the hills will help people who may be struggling."

Follow BBC North East and BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].