Meet the Pontefract mental health campaigner, aged eight, walking the coastline of England for her “hero” daddy

Alba Stogden, from Pontefract, who started doing sponsored walks two years ago, has completed roughly 600 miles of her epic trek with her proud mum, Sophie Stogden, 29.

The “pocket rocket” was inspired to fundraise for charities after her dad Grant Stogden, 29, spent two-and-a-half years in a hospital battling anxiety and depression.

And while he was later able to come home to his loving family, that didn’t stop Alba from taking on challenges to support others going through similar difficult times.

Alba said of her incredible challenges: “It’s amazing and it’s great to raise the money. I really like being outdoors, and it’s really fun going away with my mum."

Full-time mum Sophie said Alba’s mammoth 2,800-mile hike around the entire coast of England was her “biggest” adventure ever.

She added: “It’s the biggest thing she has ever done in terms of miles and distance.

But it’s just a massive adventure as well as being such a huge fundraiser

“Her dad is her hero. She grew up with him in that psychological unit. He needed a lot of intense treatment when she was younger, and she kind of grew up with that.

“We’re lucky as a family that we got him home. Many people don’t – and she’s aware of that.

“So she’s happy to do anything that raises awareness of that and to have challenging conversations and support charities that are doing incredible things.”

Sophie said Alba undertook her first sponsored walk when she started being homeschooled by her parents around two years ago.

And she said the “vibrant” youngster, who loves marching around in her bright yellow wellies, hadn’t stopped raising money ever since.

She said: “We pulled her out of school during the lockdown. We were looking for something positive to do with her, and we came across the Samaritans to start with.

“She had this big thing for raising awareness of mental health, and she loves being outside. We put the two together, and set something off. We’ve not stopped since.

“Alba loves to spend time in the sea and meet new people. It’s almost like one big adventure. The enormity of the fundraising kind of goes over her head."

In September last year, Alba completed a 123-mile trek from Redcar to Spurn Point, in Hull, and this then inspired her to take on the entire 2,800-mile coast of England.

And remarkably the pair, who started their trek in January, have so far been given free accommodation and food every step of the way by kind strangers.

They’ll now pick their pace by walking two weeks each month until the end of the summer and hope to complete their journey by the end of this year.

Sophie said: “There’s been plenty of difficult moments. During the last two months, the weather has been so challenging.

“We’ve had to come off the cliffs because of how dangerous it was as we’ll walk in any weather – even when there's heavy rain and strong winds.

“But we’ve never got to a point where we’ve thought we’re not doing this anymore. We’ve always found a way to get around that and take it slower and change the plan.

“We’ve been gifted places along the way from boats to shacks and sheds and yurts to pubs, and we’ve been given free meals too.

Sophie said Alba’s desire to raise funds for charities was rooted in her dad Grant’s experience with mental health issues.

She went on: “Over the first five years of childhood and upbringing, he spent a huge amount of time in hospital – two and a half years. He had a lot of intense therapies and everything else.

“They did bedtimes via Facetime, supervised visits and Christmas in family rooms on the wards of big hospitals. However, that is her hero.

“It was a long, long list of varying diagnoses, including depression and anxiety. So he has a lot of struggles and things.

"She kind of grew up with that and saw a lot of these challenges. Mental health is where it’s at for her."

Proud dad Grant said: "I love to see Alba so happy outside and doing what she loves most, which is just amazing!"

Visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/albaiswalkingtheenglandcoastpath2023-section4? to donate to Alba’s challenge.

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