Young fundraisers walk for 24 hours around Christchurch stadium for charity

A group of young people have completed a 24-hour walk around Christchurch’s One New Zealand Stadium, raising money for charity.

When the Herald arrived on Monday morning, students Tom Irvine and Nikolai Murray were at what had become their base for the past 24 hours.

The pair are members of Project Gumboot, a group founded by four young men to raise funds for the I Am Hope Gumboot Friday initiative, which provides free counselling to people aged 5 to 18.

At least one person has been walking laps around One New Zealand Stadium since midday Sunday, with the group having covered about 100km in total so far.

Tom Irvine (left) and Nikolai Murray (right) at what has been a home base for Project Gumboot throughout the past 24 hours. Photo / Jazlyn Whales

They have made it halfway to a fundraising goal of $5000.

“We started in gumboots, but we kind of blistered up and stopped wearing gumboots at about 50kms in,” Irvine said.

Irvine said counselling was one of the “most important” forms of support for people struggling with their mental health.

“Mental health is a massive thing in New Zealand and I know that everyone struggles with it,” Irvine said.

“Everyone goes through it, and counselling is one of the most important things, I think in the world – it’s saved my life; I know it’s saved others.

“But lots of New Zealanders can’t afford it because you have to go through GP approval, and that can be a hard thing.

“So I Am Hope and their Gumboot Friday initiative supplying it for free without GP approval is a really awesome thing.”

Co-organiser Nikolai Murray said the idea of walking laps around the stadium for 24 hours was initially pitched as a “joke” while the group was brainstorming challenges.

“We’re like, oh, what if we walked around the stadium for 24 hours?” Murray said.

“And we’re kind of like, that could be pretty, pretty awesome.”

The group has also inadvertently set a record, Murray said.

“In doing so, we’re currently holding the New Zealand record for laps around the One NZ Stadium,” he said.

Project Gumboot is walking around One New Zealand Stadium for 24 hours. Photo / Jazlyn Whales

The pair said messages of support from the public had helped them push through the challenge.

“We’ve received lots of messages, and it honestly got us through the graveyard shift of the night,” Irvine said.

“We want to reply to every email - anything at all, advice, [or] how to make gumboots comfier.

“Oh, we haven’t figured that one out yet,” Murray laughed.

But the 24-hour walk is just the warm-up.

Later this year, the group plans to embark on a journey lasting more than 10 days, travelling from the West Coast to the East Coast of the South Island.

Starting in Ross and finishing in Gore Bay, they plan to cover more than 300km on foot, by bike and by packraft, all while wearing gumboots.

Those wanting to support Project Gumboot can donate through the group’s Givealittle page.