At the end of April, a team of colleagues and I will be attempting to row from Ramsgate, in the UK, to Nieuwpoort, in Belgium to raise money for Age UK. Credit Suisse staff will be supporting Age UK as our UK Charity of the Year for 2018.

1.2 million older people are chronically lonely. Loneliness can be devastating, it causes depression, increases the likelihood of strokes and heart attacks by a third and doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

With Credit Suisse's support, Age UK will help over 30,000 older people by offering vital advice, support and friendship.

From a personal perspective, I know many families who are geographically dispersed - my own being a case in point. This makes it hard to be on hand as our family members get older, and easy to understand how older people become isolated and lonely. I hope that by raising funds for Age UK, in a small way, I help in reducing loneliness and the associated health impacts.

As for the challenge, we will be using Cornish Gig rowing boats, with 8 people in a boat, and rowing for somewhere between 15 and 24 hours to cover the 56 nautical miles. Sounds like fun!