FOUR brave friends are preparing to take on an epic 100km walk over 24 hours to raise money for blind and vision-impaired ex-service men and women.

Nicola Pryer, 38, and her pals Tessa Bates, 40, Tasha Hales, 43, and Marsha Robinson, 39, all from Brightlingsea, have been training over the past three months for the walk from London to Brighton this Saturday for the Blind Veterans UK charity.

Nicola, who works at the charity, said: “Marsha and I started with a ‘Couch to 5K’ in July 2017 which quickly led to us doing a half marathon, training with Tash and Tess.

“Then before I knew it I’d shared the link to this event with them and we had all signed ourselves up.

“You might say we’re mad, in fact I think we’d all admit that, but I’m sure it’s going to be a brilliant experience.”

Nicola started her role as a community support worker for the charity last November and says she is passionate about raising money for the cause.

“As a community support worker I help blind veterans in the local community access the support they need, be it specialised equipment, social interaction with other veterans through reunions and lunch clubs, or life skills training in cookery, art or IT,” she said.

“It’s no underestimation to say that the support of Blind Veterans UK can completely turn someone’s life around.

“My friends have seen how passionate I am about the work that I do and I think that’s really helped with our fundraising.”

The group have also been busy raising sponsorship for their walk, including holding two car boot sales and a cake sale, where they raised nearly £400.

“We are determined to do this together and with lots of chatting with good friends and other participants we are hopeful it will see us through,” Nicola added.

The girls have already raised £1,072 of their £2,000 target.

For more information or to donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/tessanicmarshatasha.