On the 17th of June, I'll be attempting the Isle of Man Parish Walk for the first time. For those unfamiliar with the event, the Parish Walk takes place annually over an 85-mile course, visiting each of the Isle of Man's seventeen parishes, with a time limit of 24 hours. The majority of the field is made up not of serious athletes but of ordinary people, from all sorts of backgrounds, who've set themselves the challenge of reaching a certain point. In my case, that's Ballaugh, which is 42 miles in. The time cutoff for this checkpoint is 11 hours and 50 minutes.

I'll be raising money for Combat Stress, which offers support and treatment to serving and former members of the British armed forces who experience mental health problems associated with their service. They provide free specialist mental health treatment, treating conditions including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression and anxiety at their three treatment centres and also through their network of community teams. They've been in existence since 1919, at which point they were years, if not decades, ahead of their time, and they've helped thousands of men and women with problems that can still be very difficult to talk about. 

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this. I've set myself a real challenge here and I want to do as well as I possibly can to raise money for a cause that I care deeply about. Combat Stress is a small charity, so any donations received will make a big difference.