A national Christian charity launched a nationwide sponsored walk on Wednesday to make known the aspirations of 1.5 million people in the UK with learning needs.

Prospects for people with learning disabilities launched a series of sponsored walks covering 1,000 miles, starting on Wednesday morning at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Charity worker Tony Phelps-Jones will be joined along his 20-mile-a-day marathon by people whom the charity supports, their friends and family and others who wish to raise the profile of those whom Prospects says are often overlooked in society.

Their route will take them via Winchester and Southampton, ending the first leg in Bournemouth with a special service on Sunday.

“This walk aims to make visible people who are often invisible in our society today," said Mr Phelps-Jones.

"We hope MPs, education leaders, journalists, church leaders, businessmen and women and many others will join us for a day and as we walk along together, they will catch something of the aspirations of these people, as well as learning something of their needs and what needs to change for this huge group of people to be able to play a full role in our community life.

"It’s really about changing the world one step at a time, and from the interest already shown across the country, we look forward to hundreds of people taking part.”

Other legs of the walk will cover Exeter, Minehead, Swindon, Peterborough, Lincoln, Shrewsbury, Nottingham, Swansea, Newcastle, Glasgow, Coleraine, Canterbury.

The walk will end back in London on October 8.



For full details of the 10 x 100 mile walks entitled ‘Walk With Me’, visit www.prospects.org.uk/walkwithme