Walk helps ex-cricketer fall back in love with UK

An ex-cricketer who spent a year in hospital suffering with mental health issues has said taking on a walking challenge allowed her to fall back in love with the UK.

Olivia Robinson, who grew up in Worcester before moving to Australia to work as an artist, walked from Land's End to John O'Groats over three months last year.

She visited 60 cricket clubs on a 1,072 mile (1,726km) journey and raised more than £10,000 for cricket charity Chance to Shine.

Robinson said the walk helped her gain a new appreciation for the country she had left under difficult circumstances, adding: "I wanted to come back and approach the whole of the UK with a different attitude and I did, I absolutely fell in love."

The 37-year-old now lives in Perth but during her youth she had been a Worcestershire cricket pathway player before anorexia forced her to give up the sport.

She said: "I struggled a bit at school and I did struggle with my mental health, and unfortunately I became quite unwell.

"I spent a year living in a hospital for mental health issues and I really had to come back to the UK and connect with the country and rewrite my relationship with it."

Almost two decades after leaving the UK, Robinson decided to return with a mission.

"So me being a bit unique and adventurous, I thought I'd walk literally from the bottom to the top, to fall in love again with this country," Robinson said.

"Last time I was here I was really struggling in my late teens, early twenties.

"It took me three months - I had one rest day a month - and I reconnected with the land and I have such an appreciation for this country now."

Speaking at the Malvern Autumn Show last month, Robinson said: "What you don't get in Perth is the variety of the seasons and I think that is what is so special [about the show].

"You obviously have the spring show but the autumn show - with the greens, the oranges, the rich browns. You just don't see that in Perth.

"From an artist's perspective, I'm really relishing using different colours and being reminded of the plants, the flowers, and even the root vegetables that you just don't see much in Australia."

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