As many of you know, I am passionate about charitable works, especially helping those charities directly involved with children and young people. This year I am walking the Camino Primitivo in aid of two charities that will help support their respective missions, Little Smiles of Western New York and The Alec Dickson Trust.

The Camino Primitivo (The Old Way) is a 320km walk from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It is a centuries-old pilgrimage first walked by King Alfonso II of Spain in 814 A.D. and on his arrival in Libredon (now called Santiago de Compostela), he built the original shrine to St James at the place where the remains of the revered saint were discovered. The journey will take 13 days, approximately 25km per day, with my plan to arrive in Santiago on Easter Saturday. All I am taking is a passport and a rucksack full of clothes to last me two weeks!

My chosen charities this year mean a lot to me. Little Smiles does amazing work with kids in and around Buffalo, NY suffering from serious illness, homelessness, or tragedy. As it is the place of my birth, and supported by members of my own family, I feel an affinity for the work they do to help vulnerable children escape from their unfortunate situations, if only for a short time. https://littlesmilesny.org/

The Alec Dickson Trust I have come to know over the last year as I am a trustee on their board, having only joined less than a year ago. The Trust is celebrating its 30th birthday this year and although supported by generous sponsorship from many individuals over the last three decades, we are at risk of running out of money and closing the Trust in 2025. The Trust's mission, case studies, and a little about Alec Dickson can be found here: https://www.alecdicksontrust.org.uk/

Any money raised will be split 50/50 between both charities. I know difficult times have hit many people across the planet and I am sure you have been asked to lend a hand to an immense number of charities, so any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

I plan on updating my progress each day, so stay tuned!

Thank you all and God Bless!