Several years ago, my attention was drawn to the fantastic and essential work that the charity shuktara do providing homes for disabled young people abandoned on the streets of Kolkata, India.

Since then employees of the UK based charity that I worked for, Choice Support, have participated in a number of fundraising events in aid of shuktara.

In 2015 I was privileged to be able to travel to Kolkata, with my partner Tracy, and meet the young people supported by shuktara. I have personally worked in the disability field in the UK for more than 40 years and things are basic in Kolkata compared to the UK. Nonetheless,

I have never been more impressed by the efforts of a charity, shuktara achieve so much for the disabled young people with so few resources; and most importantly they do it with love, unlimited.

Last year my six-year-old grandson climbed to six thousand feet on Mt Toubkul in Morocco and raised £4000 for shuktara. Having initiated and supported the fundraising efforts of others I feel that it is time to do something myself.

Most years I enter a competitive challenge event called the Across Wales Walk. Basically, you start at the English border at a place called Anchor Bridge and walk (or run) across Wales to the coast; to a place called Clarach Bay just north of Aberystwyth. The route is cross-country, 45 miles long and very hilly including ascending Plynlimon, the highest mountain in mid Wales.

Each year a small group of tough (some would say mad!) walkers attempt a double crossing. This entails starting at the Welsh coast at 11.00 am the day before (Friday) and completing an unsupported 45-mile crossing of Wales to reach the start line by 5.00 am on the Saturday morning to turn round and start the event with all the fresh competitors, achieving 90 miles by the time you finish.

I’d always been in awe of the ‘doublers’ as 45 miles completely exhausted me, and I never contemplated doing a double until… 2016, the year that marked the 25th anniversary of my first completion of the AWW and the year that I reached the age of 60. To mark both occasions, I successfully completed a double crossing. It was the toughest physical challenge of my life. I have run marathons and walked 100 miles non-stop on a couple of occasions, but this was tougher.

This year I am going to attempt a triple crossing sponsored in aid of shuktara. I believe that in the 55-year history of the event that there have only been two successful triple crossings. This means starting at 5.00 pm, at Anchor Bridge, on the Thursday 30th August and walking until potentially 11.00 pm on the Saturday 1st September to complete 135 miles of non-stop walking (you get 18 hours max for each 45-mile crossing). When I start the main event with about 120 fresh competitors I will already have walked 90 miles.


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