Those of you that know me well, will know that I am anything but a sporty outdoors person! You may therefore be wondering why on earth I have agreed to participate in a 96 mile walk in five days (so practically the equivalent of a marathon a day!) in the Scottish Highlands, sleeping in bunkhouses and wigwams along the way, without any creature comforts...........

Well, as you may know I'm a solicitor and I specialise in representing clients who have developed mesothelioma (an asbestos related cancer) and other diseases due to negligently being exposed to asbestos. Many of my client’s suffer with awful breathlessness and pain which is severely debilitating. Many lose their lives to these diseases, often at a young age and only a few months after diagnosis.

Often my client’s go from being healthy, active and independent people to requiring full time care and support in a very short space of time. Some are admitted to hospices which aim to care and support people with asbestos diseases and other life limiting conditions.

I have decided to participate in this challenge to raise money for St Michael’s Hospice in North Hampshire which is one of the many hospices in the country which does such wonderful work in helping people faced with mesothelioma and other illnesses.

St Michael’s is celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary this year. I was astounded to find out that the annual running costs of the Hospice are over £3.3 million with less than 20% of the funds coming from the Hampshire Primary Care Trust.

I hope that by participating in this challenge that I can raise some money to dontate to the Hospice.

I am starting the walk with two of my colleagues on 6 July 2012 which is Action Mesothelioma Day, an annual event to raise awareness of mesothelioma and the devastating effect that the condition has on victims and their families.

I have already been training for several weeks and have a lot more work to do before July! 

It would really help my determination if you could sponsor me whatever you can to complete this challenge. St Michael’s Hospice do such brilliant work in my local area and I know that anything I can raise will make real difference.

I promise to upload lots of photographs from during the challenge including ones of me with blistered feet, being completely drowned in what will no doubt be awful weather, bad hair and grumpy facial expressions, of which I am sure there will be several!

So please donate now!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you so much for your support and for anything you are able to donate.

Jen