Our hopes for the first Jane Tomlinson Dales walking festival - husband Mike

In an exclusive interview Mike Tomlinson tells of hopes for walking festival and ensuring his wife’s legacy lives on

HIGH above Settle, nestled among the grassy knolls and limestone crags, is a spot with a view on a clear day that stretches as far as the coast, one of the finest sights in the Dales.

It is also the location where in May 2000, Jane Tomlinson was left with crippling chest pains while out walking with her husband, Mike – it was the first time he had noticed something was wrong.

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Just four months later, she was diagnosed with the terminal breast cancer that eventually claimed her life after a heroic seven-year battle which defied medical predictions and inspired an entire country.

It was to the same spot, where Mike returned, not long after her death.

While lying on the grass, looking out over the scenery that they both cherished, he was inspired to quit his job and take up a fundraising challenge the scale of which would even have impressed Jane.

Now in an exclusive interview with the Yorkshire Post, he today unveils the Jane Tomlinson Walk For All Yorkshire Dales Walking Festival, in which thousands of people will participate in a series of four events over the Yorkshire Dales this summer.

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The festival, being launched in Settle today, is the first of its kind in the country and has been two years in the planning. It is also, says Mike, the best way to ensure Jane’s memory lives on, inspiring generations for years to come.

“This whole event is deeply personal to me and Jane,” said Mike, now 49, who grew up in Settle before moving to Leeds where he met his wife. “We have so many memories invested in these routes. Jane and I had walked it so many times, it was magical to us.

“Twice a year we’d drop the children off at school, catch the first train to Horton-in-Ribblesdale then walk back to Settle and go for a pub lunch, before getting the train back and picking up the children. Sometimes we never said we had even been anywhere, it was a stolen two days a year together.

“About 10 or 11 years ago, we were looking to buy a place at Stainforth, near Settle. We were going to move up to the Dales and travel down to Leeds for work. But the children didn’t want to, so we thought we would let them have their lives first and we would move up to the Dales when they finished high school, but Jane got poorly and we never moved.

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“We wanted to do something different, and I thought what better way to do a fundraising event than a big walk in the Yorkshire Dales.

“A huge amount of my emotions have been invested in this, I’m having a few sleepless nights. For me, it is about inspiring people to do something different.

“If Jane was here now, this would be the thing that she would be most excited about, out of everything we have done for the appeal.”

The Walk For All festival, which will take place on August 14 and is being backed by the Yorkshire Post, features a 26-mile walk, a 14-mile walk and a five-mile family-friendly walk, all starting and finishing in Settle, as well as a four-and-a-half-mile route which is accessible for people in wheelchairs around nearby Malham Tarn.

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The five-mile circuit was regularly walked by the Tomlinsons as a family and on the day of the event, Mike says he and his 13-year-old son Steven will join those taking part.

It is hoped more than 2,500 people of all ages and abilities will take part overall and the event will become an annual fixture in the Dales.

It will also be a huge boost for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal, which was set up by Jane to raise funds for cancer and children’s charities, and is now around the £4m mark.

Following her death in 2007, Mike and their three children, Steven, 13, Rebecca, 23 and Suzanne, 25, have worked tirelessly to reach the £5m target for the appeal, with a number of events, which began with the Leeds 10k Run For All and the recently launched Swim For All.

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“We are immensely proud of what Jane achieved and to be continuing that”, said Mike. “But there is a flip side to that. Having to look at pictures of her every day has been very tough.

“It isn’t possible to have a normal life. I thought it might get better, but it hasn’t. I’m unable to escape the fact that Jane has died, I am taking on that grief every day.

“We had a family meeting in February and made a decision as to whether to carry on, and we all took a view we are still achieving what we want to achieve. My view is as long as there is clear benefit and we are doing good things, then it is worthwhile. But we are getting such fantastic support from a lot of people.

“I get a lot of people from all over the country writing to me saying they have been diagnosed with cancer and are inspired by Jane.”

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Other backers of the walking festival include Craven District Council, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Northern Rail, which is scheduling extra trains and carriages to ferry participants to the event as well as pledging the money from 300 return tickets between Leeds and Settle to the Jane Tomlinson Appeal.

The website www.walkforall.com goes live today.

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