Judy Whiteside, left, and Gail Todd at Robin Hood's Bay, with Huw Birrell, with obligatory Land Rover in the background

Two footsore mountain rescuers successfully ended their walk across England to raise cash for a new benevolent fund.

Judy Whiteside and Gail Todd arrived at Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire on Saturday after covering the 309km (192-mile) Coast to Coast Walk they started in St Bees 12 days previously.

They were greeted at the end of their final leg by members of the Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team and Mountain Rescue England & Wales national committee members.

Judy, who edits Mountain Rescue magazine, and her fellow Rossendale and Pendle Mountain Rescue Team member Gail aim to raise £5,000 for the fund to help the families of rescuers injured in action. Their justgiving page has raised more than half the amount so far.

The women’s walk, dubbed the Twirlies on Tour, attracted support from mountain rescue teams en route, and the pair also collected cash from fellow walkers.

Judy said: “We have had fantastic support from other Coast-to-Coasters and all the mountain and search rescue teams along our route, as well as Sir Chris Bonington who walked with us for a day in the Lake District.

“The teams in particular have been brilliant and I don’t think I’ve ever had my photograph taken with Land Rovers quite so often.  As well as the walking every day, we’ve also been down a cave and rafted a river in Yorkshire with members of the Swaledale MRT and much more.

“Some of our fellow walkers – from as far afield as Canada and Australia – have become familiar faces along the route and a big thank you goes to them for their financial support too. It’s been a brilliant experience and I am just hoping that people will continue to give in the next couple of weeks so that we can reach our target.”

The new MREW benevolent fund will bridge a current gap and help those picking up the pieces after accident or injury whilst on a callout.

“We know from hard experience that this is needed but it is also a difficult one to explain and raise money for,” said Gail. “Team supporters like to see the positives of what we do and this isn’t a cheerful one.  We’ve had fantastic support from the outdoors media and from colleagues, family and friends so far but we need everyone’s help.  We’re over half way at £2600 and £5,000 is a big sum but it will also make a big difference.”

David Allan, chairman of MREW added: “Although all mountain rescue team members are insured against misfortune while carrying out rescues, there are times when a significant delay occurs between an incident and the insurance actually providing money.

“The new benevolent fund seeks to relieve this anxiety by providing immediate funds. The major part of the fund will be contributed by team members but an injection of money is urgently needed to get the scheme off the ground. Judy and Gail’s walk has been just the launch that it needed.”

Among the crowd greeting the women at Robin Hood’s Bay was Huw Birrell, a member of North East Wales Search and Rescue who is working on the practicalities of the new benevolent fund.

“We’ve been talking about the need for some sort of benevolent fund for a while now,” he said, “and Judy and Gail’s walk has given us the focus for a launch as well as, if all goes well, a fantastic first contribution.”

The women have also produced a blog of their walk.