Botham halfway through charity walk in Sri Lanka

Wednesday, 6 November 2013 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: Former England cricket captain Ian Botham on Tuesday (5 November) said he was “on target” to raise money in his charity walk. Tuesday marked the halfway point for the walk across Sri Lanka that started last Friday (1 November) in Killinochchi. The eight-day walk, arranged to raise funds for those affected by the 30-year war in Sri Lanka, is due to end at Seenigama. Botham, 57, said in August that his charity walk that will likely span 160 kilometres will be his toughest challenge yet.

Dubbed ‘Beefy’s Big Sri Lanka Walk’, it will raise funds for projects supported by the Laureus Sports Foundation for Goodness. “We are doing very well. We have done four days, we are half way. We are well on target to raise plenty of money, which is the objective of this. Create awareness and get conglomerates from around the world involved in the project,” Botham said. Each day Botham will be joined by cricketers such as Shane Warne, Michael Vaughan, Sourav Ganguly, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Botham has been walking for charity since 1985 when he first pledged to raise millions of pounds to help people suffering from blood cancers.