A local lady has shown her appreciation for the treatment that saved her grandads life by undertaking a 11,000 steps a day challenge to raise money for a national charity.

Rachel Stewart, from Seaton, completed the March the Month for Prostate Cancer challenge with her friend, Becky, and smashed her 300,000 step target, reaching 500,000.

They have both raised £1,500 so far for Prostate Cancer UK, but with their donation page still open, they hope to stretch that too.

The cause was close to both their hearts, as both Rachel’s grandad and Becky’s dad had prostate cancer.

“If it wasn’t for the treatment that they’ve been receiving over the years, they wouldn’t be with us today,” said Rachel.

“We decided we wanted to give something back, and we also wanted to motivate ourselves to do more exercise over lockdown as we both haven’t been walking far especially with working from home.

“With having an office job this made it more challenging to get the steps in and we had to fit time in to walk 5.5 mile per day.”

Rachel said it was an emotional end to her and Becky’s challenge and she will miss getting out in the fresh air everyday.

She added: “It inspired me to start using my camera again because I used to love taking photos.

“I didn’t want it to end to be honest. It was just nice to do it and it was nice to be able to give back to other families who have gone through the same thing as well.

“My grandad is really proud of what we’ve achieved.”

With the easing of lockdown restrictions, Rachel is looking forward to seeing her grandad again for the first time since she started her challenge and telling him all about it.

“It was tough a few years ago because we didn’t know what was going to happen to him.

“He’s okay now. He still receives treatment, but he’s fine. It’s amazing, and like I said, without the research and treatment, I don’t think he would be where he’s at today.

“Its nice to have a bit of normality back again now and we can go and see him. My grandparents live in Egremont, so its not like its just five minutes down the road from where we’re at.

“They’re coming to see us this bank holiday weekend, so it’ll be nice to celebrate and have a catch up in the garden.”

To find out more, visit prostatecanceruk.org.