“This is an awesome amount that will go towards the construction of a house that will accommodate eight orphan children and a mother to help bring them up in a lifestyle that was robbed from them at birth, a life that will give them food, clothing,dignity, schooling and medical attention,” said organiser, Kristine Roberts.

“The weather for walking was great, we were so blessed to have so many helpers on the way to make our walk as comfortable as possible with the Scripture Union Book Store organising a car to run back and forth picking up anyone who found they could not do the whole distance.

“ We had such a variety of ages from four years-old (Lily King) to 81- years- old (Kay Newnham).

“We were so lucky to have people along the way to open their homes for bathroom stops and morning tea.

“It took four hours to walk to the dam and it was so worth it .

“ Once we made it to our final destination we were able to rest our weary feet with afternoon tea provided by Brumby’s .

“As night time approached we all gathered around the fire to share a fantastic meal.”

“I would like to thank Mick Hoynes for supplying us with safety vests and walkie talkies, IGA, PDF foods, Wade Street meats,and Brumby’s for their donation of food products to feed us all.”

Ms Roberts also thanked the setup team, Vernon Bell, Mick Kent, James Smith, and Patrick Ngtai, who chopped all firewood to keep everyone warm and setup the camp site, as well as and pulling it back down again.

She said Inverell Shire Council supported the cause by allowing the walkers to camp overnight at the dam.

Mick Cooper and Mitch Gavan gave up their weekend to be front and back safety sign cars.

“St Johns Ambulace volunteers followed along behind bandaging all our blisters,” Ms Roberts said.

“Mrs Batterham cooked enough food to feed 50 hungry walkers.

“Most of all, I’d like to thank the Inverell community for their generous donations with this money.”

“We will be able to place a little bit of Inverell in another part of the world.

“Our Watoto house that is being built will be named “Inverell House.””