Hello. My name is Alex, and I'm a motoring journalist. Several years ago, when I first started doing this job, I heard about a charity called Mission Motorsport.

The aim of the charity is spelled out in its motto: Race, Retrain, Recover. Put simply, Mission Motorsport uses the healing power of motorsport as a way to help rehabilitate veterans who've been affected by their service in our armed forces.

Through teamwork, competition and personal validation, Mission Motorsport is building a community of like-minded people, who come together to support each other whether they have done a day or decades of service, enabling veterans to retrain and rebuild when they suffer life-changing injuries -- be they mental or physical -- while defending our country.

————————

When I first heard about Mission Motorsport, I thought it was a tremendous idea -- a brilliant way to help those to whom we owe a debt of gratitude, in a way that is immensely positive and immediately engaging.

Since then, I've naturally been a supporter of the charity. But I wanted to do more. My occupation is a delightful one, but societally, it isn't enormously important. So for a long time, I've felt a strong urge to give something back; to make my job worthwhile.

To that end, I'm hoping to bring together as many people as I can from the automotive industry and outside of it in support of Mission Motorsport. The easiest way to do this, I decided was to do something big and silly.

———————

Enter Race of Remembrance. Every year, Mission Motorsport holds a 12-hour endurance race over Remembrance Weekend, at Trac Mon on the island of Anglesey. I've always wanted to go along and see it for myself. So this year, I'm going to.

But I've decided I'm going to walk there.

That's right. What would usually be a six-hour drive will instead be a three-week-long walk, starting out at Mission Motorsport's headquarters near Wantage, in Oxfordshire, some time in mid-October 2024 (exact date TBC).

My route will take me north, out of the Cotswolds, along the border between England and Wales, to the North Wales Coast. I'll then head east toward my final destination. The route is yet to be set in stone, but I estimate the total distance to be 200 miles.

I'm doing this because I believe passionately in the work Mission Motorsport does -- and in giving those men and women who've gone into battle for us, and come off worse for wear, a chance to rebuild their lives.

With your support, Mission Motorsport can continue the incredible work it does -- work that gives injured veterans a chance of a new life.

Follow me on my walk

Please do - it'd be great to hear from you and to get a bit of moral support during my training, and of course, on the walk itself:

- @scrof on Twitter/X

- @scrofwalks on Instagram

on Mission Motorsport's social media channels:

- @missionmotorsport on Twitter/X

- @missionmotorspt on Instagram

- @missionmotorsport on Facebook