Three Challenges For Three Charities

A year ago I decided I wanted to be the first woman to run the distance between the three peaks, I also decided I was going to smash the prevoius man-made record out of the park and be a world record holder once and for all. A month later I was in a car crash and along with my car, those plans were pretty permenantly crushed. Or were they?

BEHOLD: Hatti's not-a-triathlon-triathlon...three challenges over three days that I will knew nothing about until the morning of (courtesy of my dear friend Foz). It wasn't quite the same as running the three peaks but it sure as shitake-mushrooms was tough!

I ended up swimming 2km in the sea off the coast of Bournemouth; "cycling" 36 miles of the South Downs way and climbing the height of Ben Nevis on a step machine in my local gym. The support I had from so many people was just phenominal and I cannot express my gratitude enough; the donations, messages, shares, cheers and hugs meant the world to me and the £735 we raised in those first few weeks was incredible.

But it wasn't the £3000 I had hoped for.

And so I've decided to do more.

Over the first three weekends in June I will be completing my Three Challenges Over Three Weeks For Three Charities. Based on my initial challenge, I had hoped to swim for 3 hours and 33 minutes (in a swimming pool) and seeing how far I get; walk the 100 miles of The South Downs Way over three days, before finishing off by completing the entire Three Peaks on a step machine.

We're currently a week in and I finished the swim in the most Hatti way possible; chatting the whole time and swimming 6776m in the 3 hours and 33 minutes. However, those of you who have follwed for a while now will know that as I write this (06/06/2018 i.e. just before my second challenge) that I've hit a bit of a snag...my knees have decided they're going to throw little temper tantrums over the way I've been treating them. They're swollen and sore and in no fit state to walk 100 miles or really to do 22,110 steps on a step machine thus I have made the heartbreaking decision to change it up.

My 100 miles have now been replaced by 100 stones which I will be collecting via 100 sprints; these stones will then be painted - 33 for each charity and 1 very special one; I will then begin my journey round the houses to distribute these creations up and down the country. Every stone will be unique and every stone will have a link to a facebook page (this will be added to here in due course...just finalising a name), people will be able to find the stone they've found and then will have the responsibility to comment with a photo of where they're going to put it next!

My third challenge, the step machine, is still currently up in the air: I have a hero complex, I hate letting people down, I have small-man syndrome and I hate failing and all of this is making it very hard for me to walk away. However, I know I need to fix my knees rather than permenantly cause damage, especially because later in the year I have two personal "challenges" that I can't afford to not complete. Therefore if anyone has any ideas for a physical challenge that a stubborn girl could do instead of blasting her knees on a stepper then please let me know!!

So why on earth am I doing this? Because I can! Because I can when a very long time ago I didn't think I ever could and even though this challenge has changed shape, I'm still as excited as ever and super duper determined! Three extortionately important charties are going to be at the forefront of my mind throughout this crazy expedition: Barnardos, Mind and The SUDC Foundation; one charity for each day!

The work that Barnardos does to help any and all children have the opportunity to live up to their potential runs deep and is pehnominal. From protection to support, above and beyond; Barnardos are truly securing our world with a much more equal future than there ever has been before. Growing up is ridiculously hard and Barnardos makes it that little bit easier!

Mind is an exceptional mental health charity who's work reaches so many and makes such a big difference to those it does. Mental health is such an important cause for me having struggled personally and having seen many people close to me fight with their own heads too. Mind's work is outstanding and I could not be prouder to be raising money for them.

My third cause is for one of my best friends, his wife and their two incredible children: The SUDC Foundation; these guys are a one-of-a-kind, worldwide foundation that aims to increase the awareness of sudden and unexpected death in childhood while funding crucial reaearch to better understand and prevent these tragedies. The Foundation also offers unparralled support for those who have been touched by the impacts of a sudden and unexplained death of a child. In other words: these guys are incredible, their work is heartbreakingly necessary and we need to all get together to help them help more people.

Those of you who know me will know I'm on some what of a crusade to save the world: I want individuals to feel strong, empowered and free to be themselves whoever they may be because at so many points in my life I have not felt those things. I want people to be kind, happy and healthy and I want everyone to have the help and support they need to acheive these things. I will do anything I can to make these things happen and right now the first step in that is for me to bring more awareness to these wonderful charities while working my butt off to prove that whoever you are, what ever you've been through, you can always do something that you never thought you could!

I'm not doing this on my own though, I have got so much support behind me that it's unreal. We've already hosted a raffle and three lucky people won some amazing prizes courtesy of Judgement Day, The Unknown and The Elements; so many of you came to cheer me on as I swam through those waters, more of you have tuned into my videos, shared my posts and sent me messages of support and so many of you are still continuing to donate and support in anyway that you can! When I took the decision to postpone (and that is what i've done, you just wait) my walk, so many of you rallied around me with ideas and support because you know how hard that decision was for me. I cannot begin to thank you all enough!!

You guys can also now get involved by signing up to run Three Miles For Three Charities on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ThreeMilesForThreeCharities/ for a £6 donation you can do any three miles in anyway you can to support this crazy mission of raising awareness and funds for these super important charities!! You'll even receive a personalised certificate of thanks at the end of it!!

Thank you so much for all your support guys; now and always!

Hatti xoxoxo

[as a side note I would like to mention that I recognise that this is a crowdfunding site and not a fundraising page. That is because I felt very strongly about wanting to raise money for all three of these amazing charities and that wasn't possible on one platform. To make it easy for you guys and to make it fair on them I have decided to use this as a method of fundraising and then will donate the money to each of the charities individually once the fundraising stops. Thanks for your understanding guys!