A North Tyne accountancy firm has walked for 24 hours and made a staggering amount of money.

TyneRede Accountancy, which is based in Bellingham, took to the road for 24 hours over last Friday and Saturday and have raised, at the time of writing, £6,400 for mental health charity MIND.

Over 91 people joined the walk in stints of 4 miles from the local area, accompanying one of TyneRede’s 9 strong team (of which there was always at least one person walking).

Between all of the participants, a total of 774 miles was walked between the company’s base at Lloyd Bank House to Hesleyside Hall.

Sarah Little, who organised the walk alongside practice administrator Emma Watson, said: “A lot of people joined us because Mind means something to them. We had people from the local community join in and talk about mental health, and how hard covid and lockdown has been for them.”

Sarah continued: “We’re overwhelmed with how much was raised. Not just financial support - everyone from the local community got behind us.”

Indeed, several Bellingham businesses got involved with a local butcher even creating a special paprika sausage for the event, of which all the profits went towards TyneRede’s challenge.

However, it wasn’t plain sailing throughout the walk, with Sarah’s knee giving way not long after midnight, and her colleague having back pain during the night.

Sarah said: “There was a point during the night when we were all aching, and we were thinking why did Chris (Gillie, Director at TyneRede Accountancy) set this challenge?

“However, we managed to raise awareness and people have been able to come to walk and talk with us. So, the pain was worth it!”

Alex Wilson, CEO of Tyneside and Northumberland Mind, said: “The 24hr walking challenge that TyneRede Accountancy has created is absolutely fantastic and well done to the team for their achievement. As a local and independent charity, Tyneside and Northumberland Mind rely on donations and local support from companies like TyneRede Accountancy to help us to provide our services and support across our region. As a mental health charity, we have a lot of work ahead of us, especially now as restrictions are lifting and we can see how hard our region has been hit. Funds like this help us significantly to get our work done and we can’t thank them enough.”

Donations can be made through Just Giving at https://www.justgiving.com/team/teamtynerede