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I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in October 2017, but I am not alone. Unfortunately the Parkinson’s community is growing daily and the latest figures show there are 145,000 sufferers in the UK alone. Every hour, two more people are diagnosed. It is a horrible, progressive disease which manifests itself in a number of ways, none of them pleasant and some eventually fatal. 

However, there is hope. New treatments and a cure are tantalisingly close and Parkinson’s UK are at the leading edge of research. 

I am a Teaching Assistant at a secondary school in Ellesmere Port and have remained so since my diagnosis. All the students that I deal with know about my condition as I am completely open about it, and indeed I have to be as my  tremor becomes increasingly difficult to hide anyway. 

I have always been a keen walker and in the past have climbed to the summit of Kilimanjaro and to Base Camp Everest before my diagnosis. I always try to stay positive and I think it is important to set myself new challenges which will stretch me. Consequently when I read about Alfred Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walking route of just under 200 miles over two weeks, from the Lake District in the West to Robin Hood’s Bay in the East, I couldn’t resist it. It will be tough, but then what challenge isn’t?

My old friend from school days, Nick Heath, has very kindly agreed to accompany me on this adventure. We will both be 61 years old when we set off and we are both paying for the entire trip out of our own pockets. 

Any money you may care to donate will go directly to Parkinson’s UK for research. I and every other PD sufferer anywhere will be eternally grateful.