Jo Brand finishes 150-mile coast-to-coast walk for Sport Relief in Liverpool

Updated

Jo Brand has finished her 150-mile coast-to-coast walk for Sport Relief by arriving in Liverpool bang on schedule.

The comedian, 58, braved 70mph winds and horizontal rain in her seven-day trek to the city from the Humber Bridge.

The final section, completed on Thursday, saw her hike 22.5 miles from Warrington for nearly 12 hours.

She has already raised £655,481 for the charity and been accompanied by fellow comedians including Bill Bailey, Lee Mack and Alan Davies en route.

Liverpudlian comedian John Bishop was at the Royal Liver Building to welcome her live on The One Show just before 7.30pm.

As she crossed the finish line she said she was "shattered" but was motivated by supporting the charity,

She said: "The most important thing was to raise shedloads of money for Sport Relief because I truly believe that Sport Relief is an organisation that gives a huge amount to people and concentrates not only on projects in Africa but projects here that mean a lot to me - projects to do with elderly lonely people, to do with people with mental health problems and to do with women who are suffering whether it's through domestic violence or bullying."

She also said she wanted to show "fat, old women" that they can walk.

The most difficult stretch of her challenge, between Langsett in South Yorkshire and Denton in Greater Manchester, saw Brand blown off her feet as she crossed the Pennines.

Her attempt almost had to be cancelled on Tuesday after roads were closed and several lorries were blown over by gale force winds from Storm Jonas.

Brand has walked across England, from east to west, since the BT-sponsored event began on the banks of the Humber last week.

She has also been made the voice of the Speaking Clock and Sport Relief will receive 10p made to the line from a BT landline until March 20.

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