IT'S time to wax those hiking boots and go into training for this year's Kent Messenger Shepherd Neame Charity Walk.

Once again we are inviting you, your family, friends, neighbors and work colleagues to take a leisurely stroll across some of Kent's most beautiful countryside -- and raise money for the nine Kent Hospices.

This year the walk will be a nine- mile course starting from the County Showground at Detling (where there is plenty of parking) and proceeding anti-clockwise through the Murrain Woods up to Stockings Wood on to Park Valley, round to Scragged Oak, all the way round to Bredhurst Community Hall, down through Monkdown woods, along the North Downs and back to the showground.

Entry is £6 per person or £12 for a family (two adults and two children) There will be the chance to tuck into a barbecue lunch half-way round and at the end of the day after collecting your certificate for completing the walk, you will be able to sup some of Shepherd Neame’s best ales!

This year we are seeking 4,000 walkers to raise over £65,000. So are you up for the challenge, if so, complete your application form now!