An experienced walker who’s trekked the full length of New Zealand in the past is taking on his next challenge – walking more than 2,500 miles across Great Britain – to raise money for the charity which cared for his friend at the end of her life.
Adam Brown, who was born in York and brought up in the North Yorkshire market towns of Thirsk, Richmond and Northallerton, will start his epic challenge, named the ‘The Great British Gut Buster’ on Sunday (April 16th) from John O’Groats. He aims to complete the 2,700-mile route in around four months, ending the trek outside Buckingham Palace, London.
Adam, who is 46 and now lives in New Zealand, is taking on the huge physical challenge to raise vital funds for Eden Valley Hospice, in Carlisle, Cumbria, after they cared for his friend Anna Pike in 2018.
Anna died at the age of 39 following a battle with an extremely rare form of cancer and received expert and compassionate care from the hospice during the final months of her life.
Anna was born in Dumfries and brought up there and also in Langholm and Canonbie in southern Scotland. She studied for an undergraduate degree in Leeds and did her PGCE teacher training at University of Cumbria in Carlisle, before continuing in the city, teaching at Petteril Bank Primary School until she fell ill.
Adam said: “This hospice in Cumbria provided fabulous support to Anna’s family throughout the most difficult of times, so when Anna passed away, I vowed to raise money for the hospice as a way of saying thank you for the care they afforded her.
“These funds will enable the hospice to continue providing care to adults and children with life limiting conditions in the future.”
It costs the hospice more than £4 million each year to provide service to patients and their families with only around 20 per cent of that coming from the NHS.
Adam is an experienced walker having already walked the full length of New Zealand, more than 3,000km in 2019/20, and has decided to challenge himself further with his charity trek in Great Britain.
The route incorporates the Scottish National Trail (537 miles), the Pennine Way (268 miles), the Wales Coast Path (870 miles) and the South West Coast Path (630 miles) in their entirety, and all connecting sections. The walk will also include a return side trip, from Greenhead on the Pennine Way to the hospice in Carlisle.
“Hiking is my main hobby, so a walking challenge for a fundraiser, in Anna’s memory, was the obvious choice,” Adam added.
Adam will be documenting his progress via his website www.greatbritishgutbuster.com and through his social media channels, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saddambrown and Instagram: Instagram.com/wanderingman76.
Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Adam-Brown113.
