Christmas Day Walks Provide Companionship

Hiking groups are organizing excursions into the hills on Christmas Day, with organizers emphasizing that “nobody should be alone if they don’t want to be.” Newcastle Hiking has scheduled a walk in Northumberland, while a separate group will convene in Keswick, Cumbria. Steve Upton, from Newcastle, decided to initiate one of these events after having spent a previous Christmas by himself, an experience he described as leaving him feeling “completely broken.” Jay Mistry, who leads the Lake District walk, stated: “It just gets bigger each year and absolutely everyone is welcome.” Mr. Mistry explained his motivation, saying: “My parents were in the States for Christmas one year, and I was on my own and I thought there must be other people like me.” He detailed the group’s expansion over the years: “I did Scafell Pike in 2019 but that was a big day out, then there was Covid and in 2021 we did Catbells and 15 people turned up.” He added: “In 2022, we did Latrigg which is quite accessible and we had 68, and last year it was 78.” This group will gather at Moot Hall in Keswick at 10:00 GMT. Newcastle Hiking conducted its inaugural Christmas Day walk in 2023. “It went really well, we did two walks in the Lake District – it was a really big success, people enjoyed coming along,” Mr. Upton remarked. This year, the walk will take place in the Simonside Hills near Rothbury, with a meeting time of 08:30. Mr. Upton further commented on the location change: “It means that more people in our neck of the woods will be able to come, we have no idea how many, but we hope we’ll get a big group.” He also reflected on the previous year’s atmosphere: “Last year we had people on their own, a father and son, my parents came, there was just a lovely atmosphere.” “Christmas is such a tough time for lots of people,” Mr. Mistry acknowledged. He expressed his hope that “knowing you can join a group and spend the day in the hills will help people who may be struggling.” For further updates, BBC North East and BBC Cumbria can be followed on X, Facebook, Nextdoor, and Instagram. Story ideas may be submitted to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external sites. Details on the BBC’s approach to external linking are available.