The founder of an award-winning project will be undertaking an epic 235-mile trek from Ipswich to Dorset with her family this summer to raise cash and awareness for the cause.

Ipswich Star: The New Year pay-as-you-feel pop-up stall in IpswichThe New Year pay-as-you-feel pop-up stall in Ipswich (Image: Archant)

Mischa Pearson, co-founder of the Teapot Project which intercepts edible food that cannot be sold and helps distribute it to those in need, will be joined by eight-year-old son Christian and partner Curtis Garrett (both teapot volunteers) for the aptly-named Door to Dorset trek.

The jaunt will feature the family setting off from Ipswich on August 7 and walking to a Worldpacker site in Dorset – a facility where they can exchange their skills for accommodation.

The trio is being supported by Action Outdoors, and hoping to raise £10 for every mile they walk, which will help fund the Teapot Project, as well as raise awareness for intercepting waste food to help aid the vulnerable.

“We are always doing fundraising, and we love walking so the ideas just connected,” Miss Pearson, 30, said. “Raising awareness is the long term goal of any community interest company, charity or organisation, and this will allow us to do that.”

Ipswich Star: Curtis Garrett and Mischa Pearson as acoustic duo Suspended Cadence. The pair will be passing on some music skills at the end of their trek. Picture: SUSPENDED CADENCECurtis Garrett and Mischa Pearson as acoustic duo Suspended Cadence. The pair will be passing on some music skills at the end of their trek. Picture: SUSPENDED CADENCE (Image: Archant)

“It’s such a big thing – we know it is going to be difficult but at the same time we enjoy it,” Mr Garrett, 23, added.

Along the way, the family will be staying in hostels and campsites where it can talk to people about the issue of waste food, and hope to visit other like-minded projects on the route. The trip will also be an opportunity to learn life skills such as building camp fires and orienteering, as well as giving Christian the chance to work towards Cub Scout badges.

At the end of the walk, the family will be staying with a Worldpacker family for a week doing farming work in exchange for accommodation, while Mischa and Curtis are also hoping to pass on some of their music skills by teaching piano in the week.

But the trip also represents a good step towards the Teapot’s next phase, as it bids to go zero-carbon later this year by investing in electric vans for its deliveries.

The project has run pop-up stalls selling intercepted food on a ‘pay-what-you-feel’ basis, donated food which is edible but cannot be sold to foodbanks and farms for livestock, and ran a pop-up cafe where people could pay what they could for a healthy meal.

Miss Pearson added: “I think for us there is a personal achievement as well. We have the achievement of raising funds and awareness, but as a family we are going to be relying on each other.

“We are going into this with our eyes open but we love the idea of the unknown so it’s exciting.”

To find out more and to donate visit the Teapot Project website here or the online fundraising page here.