Twenty cricketing dads from St Albans are preparing to embark on their fourth epic walk for charity - and hope it will be their biggest fundraiser yet.

Garden Fields Cricket Club - also known as 'Men of Fields' (MOF) - is a collection of close-knit dads with children at Garden Fields School in Townsend Drive, St Albans.

Every two or three years they undertake a large charitable walk, and this June will be taking part in the fourth in a series which has already raised more than £80,000 to date.

The 2022 event is the famous Ulster Way walk of 75 miles (120km), which will be dedicated to The British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal and a charity close to their hearts and local to the walk: the Northern Ireland Hospice Appeal.

The group has a strong track record in fundraising, with previous walks having taken part on the Isle of Wight, in Devon and the famous Ridgeway path across southern England, and previous beneficiaries have included Rennie Grove Hospice Care and the Hospice of St Francis.

Herts Advertiser: Garden Fields Cricket Club, aka the Men of Fields.Garden Fields Cricket Club, aka the Men of Fields. (Image: Garden Fields Cricket Club)

After their last heroic effort in 2019, the pandemic made it impossible to attempt a charity walk, but now the Men of Fields are making up for lost time by supporting two charities for 2022.

Spokesperson Trevor Merriden said: “We could not undertake an event this year without supporting the plight of people in Ukraine in these desperate times. And as with previous years, we also wanted to continue our efforts to support hospices local to our walking route - hospices have cared for those close to us and provided amazing support for friends and family.”

The group has asked Herts Advertiser readers to give generously to this cause, as they hope to raise £10,000 for each charity.

If readers want to donate to British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal see https://bit.ly/3NR6q1M and for the Northern Ireland Hospice Appeal see https://bit.ly/3w60FpS