Hello all

You can follow the journey here

https://www.facebook.com/Cheryl-Walks-the-Highland-Trail-550-115251040331637/

Allow me to introduce myself 👋

I'm Cheryl, I work full time as a Charge Nurse in Respiratory and I live with a little cat called Aura

I had an inspirational Grandpa who dragged me up Helvellyn when I was young and loved the outdoors

Personally after my childhood I became someone who exercised in a gym and left the great outdoors as a memory

Later in my life I developed a Mental Health problem. Long story short on the back of a sexual assault (the summer before I began my Nursing Degree) I created many unhealthy coping mechanisms and began a long dark journey into depression, PTSD and anxiety

In short I went from a being happy go lucky chicca to a dark, twisty nightmare to those around me

During my Nursing Degree I met an incredible woman who dragged me back into the outdoors to climb my first Munro. Ben Klibreck. In this space I discovered a peace my poor little brain had not felt in 3 years. The challenge caused me to realise that mentally I was stronger than I knew and this gave me the profound realisation that I could continue my life and in a good way

From there I've embarked on many challenges, run a marathon, Maggie's Challenge and climbed more hills

Am I good at these things... Oh my goodness no! I'm slow! I cry! I get lost! And coming off I do mostly on my ass!

But I meet people along the way. People who have experienced hurt (as we all have) who use the therapy of the outdoors to create a better life for themselves

My own story takes many twists and turns (like a trail you might say!) Essentially the conclusion is that this year following from a second divorce I found myself once again looking to the outdoors to heal me

I walked the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way and once again found myself realising how much more I was capable of

Then we had ourselves a little pandemic... As an aside massive shout out to Ninewells and the wonderful people I work with for being absolutely amazing throughout this 🙌

I suppose Covid has made us all look within ourselves and ask what is important. What are we passionate about? And given us a lot of time to think

For me this meant looking at what I really enjoyed. What brought me peace and what keeps me well

So in my wisdom (what is left of it!) I dreamed up the incredible challenge of walking a 550 mile route called the Highland Trail. My aim is to do this in approximately 3 weeks

Some statistics for you
It will average walking a marathon a day
It is almost the equivalent of climbing Everest twice
It's actually f#@+ing crazy!

But it's a challenge and that's something I thrive on

So this week

I've let my amazing friends and family know I'll be incognito until after May (DDay)

Spent £1000 on a tent, sleeping bag and ground mat... Then my card got declined buying fuel 😂 I think they thought it was stolen because I wasn't buying clothes, makeup and wine 🤦🏻‍♀️

Watched endless wild camping tutorials on YouTube

Engaged with my Personal Trainer (another inspirational woman) to build my strength

Started a food diary, I'm going to need to change my way of eating drastically... This will actually be the toughest part for me 😂

Given up all other things that are wasting my time in order to focus on this

It's not going to be easy and as I've found with other challenges the toughest part is actually the training

The goal is to complete this challenge, raise an incredible amount of money to go towards Mental Health services and inspire others to do something that pushes them. For many that's as simple as admitting they are struggling

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by inspirational women (and men) All my best friends have overcome their own personal challenges and inspire me to keep going. They have picked me up more times than I can count!

In this time they are motivating me to do this and being very understanding that I won't be as available

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have this support and SAMH do incredible work helping those that need it. 

My aim is to reach as many as possible with the help of your donation

I hope you enjoy my journey

I hope it inspires you to do something for yourself

I hope you didn't fall asleep reading this 😂

Lots of Love

Cheryl

🚶‍♀️💜

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