I am very passionate about the powers of sport, physical activity, inclusion and I wanted to kickstart my first fundraiser of the year to support such a worthy charity and cause close to home and my heart. This can not only be a single fundraiser, but an opportunity to engage a wider amount of participants, to also support their local NHS with a similar ethos, activation and fundraising challenge in mind. 

As a recognised NHS community champion/ activator in Essex, I am very keen to not only engage in physical activity myself, but spread and open the pathways for physical activity to others. This is because I believe everyone should be active, their way, with the right support and inclusion in place, to allow everyone the opportunity to be active their way and furthermore spread the benefits that being active; Can bring to your physical, mental health, quality of life and the ripple effect it can have around you. From my personal perspective and experience of living with Fibromyalgia and managing my long term condition through a multi-disciplinary approach, which involves me being active through graded exercise and daily pain management coping strategies. I can see this relating to many more patients of the NHS itself, in particular post patients that have had Covid, giving physical activity being a contributor to better recovery and even a stronger immune response for those taking the vaccine. My reasoning for this is also backed up by my various campaigning over the years to highlight physical activity as a positive mechanism to aid possible treatment pathways, personalised care and social prescribing. 

This year from the 1st of January I decided I would move NHS Thank You Mile's to reach another pledge of reaching #NHS1000miles. This means I have short term goals of reaching one mile at a time and furthermore, a longer term goal of reaching 1000 miles in total. I have with me, my family which involves my Son Noah Ray and Partner Ellie and at times, in particular my Superhero Sidekick Son Noah will join me on multiple Superhero Adventures locally. We noticed our Superhero #FindYourPower and #UnlockYourImagination efforts really brought smiles and joy to our locality during these dark and challenging times and is part of the reason we continue our Superhero efforts to this day. We intend on going on many more #NHSThankYouMile Superhero adventures until we reach our NHS 1000 Miles and even while my own journey progresses, I totally intend to channel my efforts by any means necessary to continue to reach this target.

I am hoping to reach this target before the next fundraising campaign that will commence in July, so I am giving myself a deadline to reach the intended 1000 NHS miles by July. It is also in my hopes that many other people, across the regions will see that this is a fundraising challenge that they could also make work for themselves and most importantly, also give back to their NHS with fundraising efforts and various NHS Thank You Miles. This will in turn, have a combination effect of an indirect positive impact on the NHS itself as by keeping active, it brings a whole lot of benefits to you as an individual, that in turn may make you less likely to need NHS services.

I mention this because last year I finished a Community Activator Coach Apprenticeship with Coach Core, Active Essex at Essex County Council and I achieved a triple distinction grade. My career was halted due to the pandemic but my efforts were not, I continued my volunteering efforts and passion for sport, inclusion and physical activity. Now I am going through a process of becoming and Bank Care Assistant with Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership at MSE Hospitals alongside my continued Youth Board Member and Ambassador Roles. This is due to the transferable skills I have developed from my apprenticeship and personal experience that have allowed me the opportunity to progress within Health and Social Care as well. Even while I am getting ready to join this new role, I am mapping my ideas so that I can continue to achieve this target with the right adaptions in place. 

My current plans are that I will monitor my step count while working and transfer these into #NHSThankYouMile's. I will also be choosing to Active Travel by Walking and Cycling too and from my new post and I intend to map in some Superhero efforts into this in particular by active travelling in Superhero style, to bring some additional smiles and joy to others along the way. 

It is part of the NHSThankYouMile's goals to also promote acts of kindness and I have understood that a simple act of kindness can be bringing a smile to someone and making an impression on them that will make them see the good still in the world outside. This is another reason we love our Superhero Adventures and aim to continue these missions as we are aware it brings so much joy and wonder to others of all ages and abilities, locally and beyond.

I will update my fundraising page on a weekly basis to notify my current mileage and how many miles are left each week, this update will fall on a Sunday in line with all the wonderful #NHS1000miles updates. 

This is me, #UnitingTheMovement between the sectors and communities I care about and I do this challenge inspired by and in loving memory of Sir Captain Tom Moore, who would always say, #TomorrowWillBeAGoodDay. 

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