GP runs across country to aid struggling families

A retired GP ran 88 miles (142km) in three days to raise money for the outdoor activity centre that "profoundly" impacted her life during her teenage years.

Dr Julie Carter, 61, ran from Keswick in Cumbria to Sunderland's Stadium of Light for Derwent Hill.

She said her experiences at the centre inspired her lifelong passion for the outdoors and gave her confidence to become a GP, champion fell runner, published author, playwright and actor.

Dr Carter said she hoped to send a class of 30 school children to the centre, to enable other families who may financially struggle to send their children on residential trips to do so.

The challenge equated to more than three marathons.

She crossed the finish line on Thursday cheered on by family, friends, colleagues, and young people from local school Dame Dorothy.

Dr Carter, from Sunderland, said she was "delighted" to have completed the challenge.

She said the "tough terrain and the long distance" tested her, but that the "immeasurable support" kept her going.

Derwent Hill, on the outskirts of Keswick in Portinscale, is owned by Sunderland City Council and operated by Together for Children.

It welcomes more than 2,600 children each year for residential visits with more than 80% living in and around Sunderland, the local authority said.

Dr Carter said: "Many children sadly don't get to take part in such experiences due to circumstances and financial limitations but experiences like Derwent Hill can have a profound and lasting impact on young people."

She said she hoped the young people discovered "something they didn't know about themselves like I did".

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