ANTI-poverty campaigners in Ilkley will provide their own alternative to the massive demonstration planned in the run-up to the G8 Summit in Scotland next month.

And a Catholic priest has provided board for a Make Poverty History campaigner on an epic trek from Bradford to Edinburgh.

Yesterday, 45-year old Jim Newsham started the 250-mile walk from his home in Bradford to meet up with fellow cause supporters at the massive G8 anti-poverty demonstration in July. He plans to raise awareness of the campaign against world poverty.

Mr Newsham's first stop is Ilkley, where Father Tony Pearson, of Sacred Heart Church, has provided accommodation.

Mr Newsham, who works as a counsellor in doctor's surgeries in Leeds, said: "I've never met Father Pearson before but one of the wonderful things about undertaking a venture like this is that people are very interested and supportive. I am looking forward to meeting many people along the way."

Walking through along the Dales Way and the Pennine way, Mr Newsham will be staying mainly at hostels and contacts throughout the Yorkshire district.

Mr Newsham has worked in Africa, thus experiencing first hand the significant needs of poor countries and says that it is important the average person stands up on the issue of poverty.

He said: "I feel that it is important for ordinary people to say that such levels of poverty should not be accepted as the norm in our world. In England most people have more than £40 a day to live on whereas in many countries in Africa most people live on less than 70p per day.

"I find that ordinary people are startled when they realise the levels of inequality. In the 17 days it will take me to walk to Edinburgh, more than half a million people will have died of poverty. Make Poverty History is campaigning to end this and I want to support that, too. I suspect that many people in Ilkley feel the same way."

Mr Newsham says he is looking forward to the many people he will meet during his journey and welcomes all approaches.

He said: "If you see me along the river, please stop and say hello."

The G8 of the world's richest nations will take place at Gleneagles, Perthshire, between July 6 and 8.

Last time the summit was held in Britain in 1998, 70,000 people formed a human chain, encircling Birmingham, and calling on the members to drop the debt of the world's poorest countries. These campaigners put debt relief on Government agendas and led to pledges of debt cancellation.

This year the demonstration will start in Edinburgh on Saturday, July 2, with a rally and speeches from international figures and celebrity supporters. Tens of thousands of supporters will be at the The Meadows, outside the city centre to demand trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid for the world's poorest countries.

For those unable to get to Edinburgh, but who still want to show support nearer home, Ilkley is planning an alternative. The Ilkley rally is the initiative of a small working group, led by Karen Palframan, Branch Leader of the St. John's branch of the Mothers' Union and Alan Lowe of Christchurch.

Meeting at Christchurch on The Grove at 11am, supporters will be wearing white T-shirts or tops, plus a white Make Poverty History wristband if possible. The wristbands are available at Oxfam.

There will be a half-hour procession around the town, ending at the bandstand around noon where a 'human white band' will be formed and a minute's silence held in memory of the 20 children who die of poverty-related causes each minute.

Organisers are hoping that MP Ann Cryer and the former Archbishop of York, Father David Hope, of St Margaret's Church, will be speaking at the event. This month the world's richest countries agreed write off the debt owed by 18 mainly African countries.