Committed supporter walks 874 miles (that’s 33.35 marathons!)
Martyn Mead from Hornchurch in Essex has just completed a mammoth virtual walking challenge from Lands’ End to John O Groats and he did it in just 42 days, finishing 10th place out of 11,500 participants.
Martyn has been a supporter of local children’s mental health charity, Kids Inspire, since 2016 and has in this time raised over £44,000 in support of family-inclusive therapy to empower more positive life choices. He raised £5000 for this walk alone!
Starting out as a four-month challenge - to complete by Easter - retired city worker, Martyn, quickly realised that to get more support for his efforts he would need to give his sponsors a quicker result and increased his pace, averaging 28-miles a day in February.
Martyn said:
“I have been taking on challenges, volunteering, and generally fundraising for Kids Inspire since 2016. I was inspired by a promise I made to my wife who sadly passed away in 2015. Tracy had become a supporter of the children’s charity and I kept my promise by taking on several challenges that I never thought I would be capable of. I am particularly proud of my latest 840 mile walk as my competitive nature kicked in and encouraged me to walk more and more daily – my longest walk was on 11 February when I walked 40.59 Miles!”
“I retired from the City early in 2020 and have kept in touch with many colleagues, all of who are generous but I also know that they like their ‘pound of flesh’ in return – this combination spurred me on even more, and here I am in 10th place just 42 days after the challenge began.”
Paula Ashfield, Head of Fundraising and Communications at Kids Inspire, said:
“We are so proud of Martyn's achievement and amazed by his dedication to complete the challenge so quickly in some harsh weather conditions. He has spurred on the rest of the team to complete the challenge. The funds he has raised over the last 5 years are lifechanging for the children and families we support.”
Martyn is one of 9 individual fundraisers taking on this virtual challenge to John O Groats, all vital funds raised by sponsors will go towards supporting the family-inclusive approach that Kids Inspire offers.
