Tracey Howe, 61, a retired professor from Glasgow, has completed a 5,000-mile charity trek around the British coastline in memory of her wife, Angela, who died from cancer in 2023. The year-long challenge began from Glasgow on 31 October last year, and she returned to the city on Friday. To date she has raised more than £53,000 for five charities. Along the route she handed out 5,000 crocheted hearts to remind people of loved ones and received supportive messages from figures including Tom Daley, The Proclaimers and Chris Kamara.

Ms Howe walked an average of about 17 miles a day and logged more than 11 million steps. She finished at the Beatson cancer centre, where Angela was treated. The charities supported include Marie Curie, the Beatson, Brainstrust, CoppaFeel! and Breast Cancer Now. She cited the scenery and the people she met as memorable highlights, and said the journey helped her process grief after losing her wife of 37 years to blood cancer.

Ms Howe, who lives in Glasgow, has spent the past year living in a campervan named Priscilla and said it will take time to adjust to living in a house again. She added that Angela would have been her biggest cheerleader and would be proud of how she has listened to others’ stories while talking about her own grief. Her sons, aged 24 and 27, joined on parts of the walk, and she received messages of congratulations from friends and public figures as she finished.