I chose to support Animal Free Research UK because I admire how they are driving ethical, evidence based research to fight, prevent and cure human diseases. They are doing it by investing in the most innovative research which focuses on humans without the use of animals. They are creating a future where animals are no longer used in medical research, where scientists focus on new techniques which are human relevant, giving better outcomes for everyone, people and animals alike. With your amazing support, we can advance human health and end the use of animals in medical research, forever.

Your donation will be ring-fenced for the charity’s Breast Cancer Project. With a 1 in 8 chance of women getting breast cancer and a 1 in 870 chance for men, it is likely that this heart-breaking disease will affect every single one of us at some point, either directly or indirectly, physically and/or emotionally. Currently more money is invested into research that treats breast cancer rather than prevents it. Animal Free Research UK is researching how it can be prevented, to save more lives. There is lots more fantastic information on this and other projects and successes on their website www.animalfreeresearchuk.org

To try and raise money and awareness for this project and the charity as a whole, I am walking the 780km Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James) this spring. I will take my first step from the French Pyrenean village of St Jean Pied de Port in the coming months and head west towards Santiago de Compostela in Spain. I am hopeful that time will allow me to continue on to Muxia on the Atlantic Coast, 70km beyond Santiago. Throughout this six-week experience I will be following the footsteps of millions of pilgrims who have walked before me – all, like me, doing it for their own unique and very personal reasons – carrying everything I need on my back and staying at pilgrims’ hostels along the Way.

I have wanted to walk this pilgrim's route since watching Martin Sheen and co in the beautiful and inspiring movie "The Way" three years ago. My partner, Graham Thompson, is also walking it with me. As vegans, we will be travelling and eating ethically and in line with our beliefs (which is easier than a lot of people think – there’s lots of help and resources out there!).

No matter how much training I do, this will be no walk in the park for me, thanks to the chronic arthritis in my hips, lower back and neck, the plantar fasciitis in one foot and the neuroma in the other! Oh, and an iffy knee or two! But I have been training at home in the Lake District and am determined to do this. The dangling carrot of raising money to help the future of humans and animals will spur me! So thank-you for anything you can do to help me achieve my donation goal of £1 for every kilometre!

I will be updating this page about once a week, so please feel free to check in regularly and make sure I am still alive! (and to see how many stray dogs and cats I have collected along The Way!)

Buen Camino!