A woman and four friends, known as the Famous Five, have raised more than £11,000 for two hospices.

Pamela Bissland from Churchill Living’s Eddington Lodge in Kendal inspired her friends to join her in a 101 km hike along the Kendal Limestone Way earlier this year.

The group of five, plus a guide, completed the seven-day hike from Skipton in North Yorkshire to the finish point at Kendal Parish Church.

They were greeted with a warm welcome at the end of their walk.

The team split the £11,101.85 raised equally between St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston and St John’s Hospice in Lancaster.

Both hospices had provided end-of-life care to three of the team’s relatives during the past year.

On October 18, the team, including Janet Warriner, Gary Anderson, Sandra Coulter, Adrian Potts, and their guide Paul Whiteman, marked their achievement by presenting a cheque to the charities.

A cheque was presentedA cheque was presented after the huge fundraising effort (Image: Supplied) The Churchill Foundation, Churchill’s own charity, added £1,000 to the team’s fundraising.

The Ring o’ Bells, Castle Inn, and Kendal Golf Club also hosted fundraising events, while the Kendal branch of Lakeland donated £2,000.

Ms Bissland said: "I’m very proud and grateful for this achievement.

"We could never have done it without the tremendous support from our family and friends so we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated and helped us along the way.

"I’d also like to thank the Churchill Foundation, as their match funding scheme is what inspired me to come up with this challenge in the first place – it’s amazing how much it snowballed from there.

"Both these hospices really do mean a lot to us, and we’ve all seen the amazing work they do every day, so it’s wonderful to be able to give something back in this way."