Yorkshire walkers brave rough conditions to raise funds for unborn children : A hardy team of walkers braved rough Yorkshire terrain and wet weather last weekend to raise money for unborn children.

Seven local supporters of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) completed the Lyke Wake Walk, trekking 44 miles across the North Yorkshire Moors, some of the most inhospitable moorland terrain in Britain.

Traditionally, the challenge is to complete the walk within 24 hours, but the team of both young and older adults completed it in 17 hours.

The walk began at 3am in Osmotherly, North Yorkshire, on Saturday (18 June), and finished at Ravenscar on the Yorkshire coast at 8.10pm.

Michael Hill of Rotherham, SPUC's vice-chairman and one of the walkers, said: "The wet weather conditions made the walk significantly more difficult. There were tears of joy and tears of pain along the way, but what made the day special was the dedication of everyone involved, not just to the work of SPUC, but for one another too."

The Lyke Wake Walk is 43 miles long, but the walkers added an extra mile to mark 44 years since the passing of the Abortion Act 1967.

The money raised will be spent on SPUC's campaigns to get the truth about abortion to doctors, encourage a pro-life ethic in medicine and drive down the abortion rate.

There are around 600 abortions in Britain every day.

People wishing to donate in honour of the sponsored event should: * telephone SPUC on (020) 7091 7091 or * visit http://www.spuc.org.uk/support/hillwalker2011 High-resolution images suitable for publication are downloadable at: * http://www.spuc.org.uk/images/spuclykestart * http://www.spuc.org.uk/images/spuclykeend SPUC's communications department can be contacted on (0)7939 177683 or (020) 7820 3129.