Last year we lost a little soul.

Our dear friends Scott & Ella had to do something no parent should have to do. They said farewell to their little boy, Ollie. He was 1 years old.

He was diagnosed with the most severe type of MPS disease, GM-1. This is where there is not enough of a particular enzyme to break down used mucopolysaccharides, which causes progressive damage and ultimately, death. There is no known cure.

To make matters worse, Scott's brother and sister-in-law, Greg & Olivia, have discovered their little boy Theo also has this terrible disease. It really has rocked their amazing family. Tom went to school with Scott and university with Greg so has known the Crosby family for over 25 years. He’s on a mission to fundraise and let Ollie's legacy continue.

This started last year when Tom ran the Jersey half marathon in Ollies memory just after his passing. “I'm pretty sure I ingested an unhealthy amount of glucose gels to get me through it”. We still can't believe how generous everyone was as he raised almost £4,500 for the MPS Society - simply for running 22km (his words). As soon as he finished and saw the final total amount raised, we knew we needed to reward those people who donated by really doing something special and potentially beyond our capabilities. This years challenge will push us to our absolute limits.

So, on Friday 14th & Saturday 15th June 2024, Scott joins Tom alongside his brother-in-law Sam as we hike around Jersey's outermost route.

Except we're doing it twice in a row.

This means we will be hiking a total of 150km over two days. It’s the equivalent of walking from Wembley Stadium to Birmingham Airport, all whilst battling an elevation that's the equivalent of walking up and down the Burj Khalifa. It's going to push us beyond anything we have done before physically (for Scott and Tom anyway, given Sam has done two tours of Iraq…). The second lap will be as part of the https://islandwalk.je/ - which allows us to also contribute to some local Jersey charities. Check out the link for more insights into what one lap entails.

Mentally, all three of us have all battled grief before and have the scars to prove it. This will be a chance to face up to this grief physically and mentally in honour of Ollie. We know that no matter what we are feeling physically, or how close we come to wanting to give up, there are those who lose family members to this horrible disease and are going through, have gone through or will go through much worse. So this is for them as well.

We will be fundraising for Acorns Children’s Hospice, who were immense to Scott, Ella and Ollie (https://www.acorns.org.uk/) and the MPS Society who work tirelessly to research, support families and raise awareness around this life taking disease (https://www.mpssociety.org.uk/).

So please donate as much as you can and if you can't donate, please take the time to check out all the incredible work they do - they really are two amazing charities.

We will keep you updated every step of the way throughout the training, the fundraising and the challenge itself.

Best order in the blister plasters in bulk. And the glucose gels for Tom!

Tom, Scott and Sam.