Nursing student Sammie Aplin is walking from Brighton to Devon over a planned period of nine days, taking in the South Downs, New Forest and Dorset’s Jurassic Coast along the way.
The hike is in support of The Sussex Beacon, the Brighton-based charity offering specialist care for people living with HIV.
The organisation has seen its budget cut recently following a reduction in funding from the NHS. Sammie and her partner Paul Bailey, who will set off on their trek on Friday 13 July, are aware of this problem and wanted to do something to help.
Sammie said: “I used to work in Clinical Research at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust and some of the patients expressed their concerns over funding cuts to the charity.
“It is such an important support service set up for people living with HIV and their families and it seemed unfair that a service rated as outstanding was struggling to stay open.
“As a student nurse, I know how important good medical care is for service users and we wanted to help. We also wanted to address some of the stigma and highlight the need for education regarding HIV.”