Pilgrims prepare for Holy Week trek

Student Cross

Walkers of all ages around England are limbering up for the 120 mile Student Cross, Britain's oldest annual pilgrimage which begins this Saturday.

More than 250 people will set out from various parts of the country in ten groups. They will walk around 120 miles during the course of the week carrying a life-sized wooden cross, gathering together at the national shrine of Our Lady in Walsingham, Norfolk, on Good Friday for a unique Easter celebration.

Dave Stanley, Student Cross national director for 2010, said: "Pilgrimage is an intense and rewarding experience. It is more relevant today than it has ever been for those prepared to face its challenges. Modern life can be complex and uncertain. It's easy to become overwhelmed by its pressures and burdened by worry. Going on pilgrimage is a fantastic way to strip back to the basics, examine the fundamental questions in life and consider what is really important.

"Student Cross enables people to think deeply about the direction they are taking, how they can see their role in the world and how God can play a part in their lives. It also offers a unique way to celebrate Easter - both a chance to recharge your spiritual batteries and a crash course in community living.

"We are an immensely varied group of people. From the very young to the very experienced. From people who feel secure in their faith as Christians, to people who have simply found that walking with friends restores them in some way. We are students, parents, teenagers and children, people with jobs and people without. Fit and unfit, wildly enthusiastic and apparently reluctant. What we have in common is that we find this pilgrimage an invaluable way of connecting with what is most important in our lives."

For more information see: www.studentcross.org.uk