Friends of a sports reporter who died last year aged 39 will walk between football stadiums for charity.

The walk from Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC, and Aldershot Town’s Recreation Ground, will be held this Saturday to honour what would have been the 40th birthday of former Basingstoke Gazette journalist John Boyman.

John was a reporter at the Gazette for more than a decade between 2004 and 2015 before moving into public relations, where he later became head of PR at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The father-of-two died in September last year after suffering from bowel cancer.

John Boyman with his wife Helen and their two sons at a special day organised before his death by charity Bucket List Wishes

The walk will raise money for Cancer Research UK’s Bobby Moore Fund and Bucket List Wishes, a charity which arranged a special day for John, his wife Helen, and their two sons Zac and Thom before he died.

John’s old school friend Chris Baker, 39, told the Gazette: “At the end of last year, shortly after John died, we thought about planning something to do near what would have been his birthday and the anniversary of his death.

“We’re walking between the two stadiums as both places were important to John and the distance is around 39 miles, so we’re thinking of posting a photo of John at each mile of him at the different ages of his life, so he ages with us as we walk.”

Mr Baker, a primary school teacher who lives in Switzerland, added: “[John’s death] was so quick and brutal. I live overseas and didn’t get a chance to see him after he was diagnosed.

“It was so brutal and felt too quick. We felt like we needed to do something to keep his memory alive.”

The group aim to reach Recreation Ground in time for Town’s 3pm kick-off against Bromley, where the friends will watch the match.

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