Mansfield Town supporter Nathan Edge will lead a group of 50 people in a charity walk from Meadow Lane to One Call Stadium on Saturday in aid of the charity Guide Dogs.
The walk will take place on Saturday 16 April, the day the Stags face Notts County in Sky Bet League 2 at One Call Stadium.
Nathan is a lifelong supporter of the Stags and has organised this event alongside his father, Mick, to help raise vital funds for the charity which changed his life.
The 21-year-old has been visually impaired from the age of six, but lost his sight completely in February 2014 over the space of a weekend.
Nathan struggled to accept that he would never see again, however, thanks to the charity Guide Dogs, the Stags’ supporter has Hudson, his four-year-old yellow Labrador cross retriever. Thanks to Hudson, Nathan now has the freedom to live his life like anyone else.
The 15.2-mile walk between the two football stadiums is set to begin at 7am on Saturday 16 April with over 50 walkers taking part, many of whom are Stags’ fans.
Chairman John Radford, stadium director Paul Broughton and fellow director Steve Middleton are also contributing to the charity event by volunteering to drive the walkers in a fleet of minibuses from Mansfield to Meadow Lane in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The group are scheduled to leave Meadow Lane at 7am where they will be joined by 15 Notts County supporters who are also walking to One Call Stadium, in an attempt to raise funds for their own charity.
The group will have two short breaks during the walk; one at The Old Spot in Arnold and one at The Hutt in Ravenshead, where the landlady has kindly offered to provide refreshments.
It costs £50,000 to support each guide dog partnership from birth to retirement and the charity doesn’t receive any government funding for their services.
Nathan said: “Unfortunately, every hour, every day, someone loses their sight just like me and I want to make sure that they are able to receive the same support that I was lucky enough to get.
“I’m once again very humbled and grateful for the fantastic support we have received and would like to thank everyone who has come forward to take part and to all who have donated.”
If you would like to make a donation and support the walkers, please visit Nathan’s JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/nathan-and-pete. All money raised will go towards Nathan’s marathon fund, where he is aiming raise £7,000 for Guide Dogs.
