Story
100 mile south downs way challenge for Crohn’s and Colitis charity
For many years, our group of friends had undertaken a challenge in aid of a chosen charity. This has slipped recently with age, illness and injury, so this year we’ve decided we must push ourselves and get back to it, and a big part of the impetus is that every one of us had a family member or close friend affected by, Crohn’s, Colitis or some form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), making our choice of charity obvious and poignant.
The impact of these lifelong, incurable conditions is both physical and social:
• Health and Diagnosis: Approximately 25,000 people are diagnosed annually, many of whom are under 30. One in four patients waits more than a year for a diagnosis, often resulting in emergency hospital admissions or surgery.
• Daily Life and Employment: Symptoms like extreme fatigue, urgent and frequent toilet needs, and chronic pain significantly disrupt life. Research indicates that 46% of people with IBD have left a job due to their condition, and 57% have had to reduce their working hours.
• Mental Health: About 50% of those living with IBD report it has negatively affected their mental health, yet only 20% feel they are asked about their psychological wellbeing during clinical appointments.
• Healthcare Strain: In 2026, the rise in cases continues to put pressure on NHS resources. Early proactive treatment (the "top-down" approach) is being advocated to improve patient outcomes and potentially save the NHS up to £20 million per year.
Work of Crohn’s & Colitis UK
Crohn’s & Colitis UK is the leading national charity dedicated to these conditions. Their work includes:
• Information and Support: They provide a vast array of resources, including a helpline, specialist information, and tools like the "Talking Toolkit" to help patients discuss their symptoms.
• Research: The charity funds and champions research to find a cure and improve treatments. For 2026, they have launched a new 10-year strategy focused on uniting researchers and patients to set a roadmap to a cure.
• Advocacy and Awareness: They campaign to reduce diagnostic delays and improve healthcare standards. This includes working with the NHS on digital tools like "My Companion" to help patients manage care through the NHS App.
The Challenge
Walking the South Downs Way in four days is a high-intensity endurance challenge that compresses a standard 8-to-9-day itinerary into half the time. It requires covering approximately 100 miles (160km) with a total ascent of roughly 12,600 feet (3,800m). We will need to cover an average of 25 miles (40km) per day, at a standard walking pace, this results in trekking days lasting up to 13 hours. While often described as "rolling hills," the trail involves constant undulation. Long stretches of the trail consist of hard chalk and embedded flint, this unforgiving surface is notoriously punishing on the soles of the feet, often leading to blisters.
The ridgeline is highly exposed with minimal shelter from wind or rain, walking this from 15th – 18th of April, fingers crossed for fair weather!
The Timing
17th of April marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of our great friend Keith Fisher. Keith suffered with Ulcerative Colitis for most of his adult life, as his son Matt recalls, “I remember seeing him, like all those who are affected by debilitating disease, struggle with the limitations imposed by the affliction on his daily life. Not being one to easily accept or submit to limitation at all was certainly a huge aspect of Dads personal struggle- adding the dimension of mental hardship to his physical discomfort. Witnessing this struggle first hand and from the early days incited my mother, Debbie Fisher, to rigorous research into Crohn’s and colitis as to better understand and help to remedy dad’s affliction. As part of undertaking her degree in health studies at WSIHE, mum wrote her thesis on Crohn’s and colitis (works that later became published). This brought her into contact with the NACC (National Association for Crohn’s and Colitis now Crohns & Colitis UK) and all their valuable work and research to aid awareness, diagnosis and treatment of IBD. Following mums passing in 1998 dad kept close personal ties to the NACC with various contributions and fundraising via his numerous social channels.”
The Team
Dain Jensen, Seth East, Ross Garnett, George Bristow, Terry Skelton, Lester Keates, Adam Slater
And Mark Rayner (Mark’s son Felix is currently suffering terribly from an IBD, and Mark has a separate GoFundMe page to raise funds for tests he desperately needs), we are supporting this too.