Seven women from Garvagh are preparing to begin a 75 km walking challenge to highlight the impact of climate change on some of the world’s poorest people while raising funds for international development agency, Christian Aid Ireland.

The women, all of whom are volunteers at The Changing Room, Christian Aid’s charity shop in Garvagh, plan to cover the distance in stages during May while carrying buckets of water around the village and through the nearby forest.

Their walk to mark Christian Aid Week is inspired by Rose Jonathan (68), a widowed grandmother from Kenya where severe drought and a changing climate mean that she must spend up to seven hours a day walking to fetch water for her family and livestock.

The women plan to begin their walking challenge on May 14 and will complete the remaining distance by the end of the month, walking one kilometre for each year since the charity was founded 75 years ago.

Rachel McCormick, founder and volunteer manager of The Changing Room, Christian Aid’s charity shop in the village of Garvagh, is leading a ‘walk with water’

Leading the challenge is Rachel McCormick, the Garvagh shop’s founder and its volunteer manager.

To support the Garvagh ‘walk with water’, please visit caweek.ie/garvaghswalk to make an online donation.Or you can post a cheque made payable to Christian Aid Ireland and marked ‘Garvagh walk with water’ on the reverse to: The Changing Room, 85 Main Street, Garvagh, Coleraine, BT51 5AB.

Seven Garvagh women prepare to begin a 75 km sponsored walk through the village and nearby forest while carrying buckets of water, to mark Christian Aid Week. They are Moira Irwin (centre) and L-R Joyce Workman, Rachel Henderson, Jenny Farlow, Rachel McCormick, Doreen Campbell and Ivy Thompson

Garvagh women to ‘walk with water’