To celebrate my 57th birthday today I’m launching my fundraising campaign since I’ve agreed to take on a big challenge of Hiking the Inca trail in Peru for charity Finding your Feet. It will take place from 20th to 27th June 2024 and my training is now starting.

I’ll be walking with a group, some of whom are amputees; for 26 miles over 7 days. The highest point is 4,215m (13,829 ft) above sea level. Even writing this is outside my comfort zone!

Some details about this incredible charity:

Finding Your Feet was founded by Cor Hutton In June 2013, Cor Hutton was given a 5% chance of survival. Suffering from Pneumonia and Sepsis, she was in a coma for 10 days during which time her family came to terms with the fact that she may be gone forever. To save her life, Doctors were forced to amputate both her hands and feet. Within one year of her recovery, and finding a lack of peer support in the community, Cor started Finding Your Feet with a clear goal – to bring amputees together. From then, Cor has been front and centre of what our charity does. She’s also found time to win countless awards and honours, break records, become the first Scot to receive a double hand transplant and is a regular face in the media to change perceptions of disability.

Finding Your Feet help families affected by amputation or limb absence with activities, services and support to benefit fitness, mental health and personal growth. We believe that forming relationships with peers and being part of a group is one of the most powerful ways to reduce isolation, which has been proven to be a contributing factor to life expectancy in the amputee community.

Our goal as a charity is to be on hand with some form of support or opportunity for every amputee in Scotland. The first step towards doing this is to connect people and make them smile, which we’re pretty good at. Ours is a community where people can give and receive support in equal measure, and some just join in to make a few pals. Whether an amputee needs vital counselling or wants to sail the seven seas, FYF is the place to be.

We provide a voice to our community that champions inclusivity and diversity in society. We believe that being different should be celebrated, not sidelined.