Football fans to walk from one game to the next

Five football fans are to spend four days walking so they can watch two football games and raise money for three charities.

Stockport County supporters Dave Thompson, Jamie Reding, Steve Cunningham, Eddie Owen and David Wardle are planning an east-west,113-mile Easter trek.

They aim to watch League One County play at Peterborough United on Good Friday before walking to Stockport in time to watch their team entertain Huddersfield Town on Easter Monday.

Each walker expects to clock up 250,000 steps on the journey between Peterborough's Weston Homes stadium and Stockport's Edgeley Park ground.

The five men plan to walk via Nottingham and Buxton, Derbyshire.

They hope their efforts will raise thousands of pounds for three charities based in the north-west of England - Mentell, a mental health charity aimed at men; Pure Insight, which supports people who have been in care; and Kits By County, a Stockport County scheme which aims to provide free PE kits to children.

The men hope fans and members of the public will join them as they make their way towards Stockport on Easter Monday.

Mr Thompson's son, George, took his own life in 2021, when 18, after struggling with mental health issues.

In 2023, Mr Thompson organised a 24-hour boxing marathon to raise funds for Mentell, which he said had helped him through "the darkest of times".

But he said the Easter fundraising effort was not just "about George".

"I want to give something back to the Stockport County community because the club and its supporters have helped me, and our family, just by being around us," Mr Thompson, a 48-year-old photographer, told the BBC.

"As a community, they have just been incredible."

Mr Thompson grew up in Alsager, Cheshire, and moved to Stockport more than 20 years ago.

He said he had been a Stoke City fan for many years, but his son, George, was a fan of County, who have hopes of promotion from League One to the Championship.

Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.