A SALISBURY COUPLE are set to walk around 2,500km for three different charities.

Tom and Julie Davis set off from Salisbury Cathedral on Saturday morning, and are hoping to complete the walk in around 100 days.

It will be completed in stages, leaving time for recuperation and other commitments, and they will finish the walk around October time.

The route will take them via the Clarendon Way to Winchester before heading through St Swithun’s Way and Pilgrims’ Way to Canterbury.

From Canterbury they will cross the channel by boat via Dover and follow the Via Francigena down through the Pas de Calais, Picardy, Champagne and Franche Compté, before crossing into Switzerland at Pontarlier.

They then head for Lausanne passing eastward around the Lake Geneva, up and over the Alps by the St Bernard Pass and down into Italy by the Valle d’Aosta.

From there they will cross the Po Valley, over the Apennines to the coast, and then on to Rome via Siena.

It will finish to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the founding of Salisbury Cathedral.

Although they say the pilgrimage is for “personal and spiritual reasons”, Tom and Julie also want to use the walk as an opportunity to raise money for three Salisbury-based charities, which they think are worthwhile causes.

The three chosen charities are the Stars Appeal, the Salisbury Cathedral Choral Foundation and the Wessex Rivers Trust

Julie spent five years working at the hospital, witnessing first hand the work the Stars Appeal do, and the Wessex Rivers Trust is an environmental charity which Tom set up and ran, which works to conserve and protect the precious river habitats of the region.

Julie said: “It’s going to be tough, but we are looking forward to it, and these are three worthwhile causes close to our hearts.”

Donations will be split equally between the three charities.

They have so far raised nearly £2,000.

To donate go to bit.ly/2HjZnxt