William's Severn Way Trek

My 8-year-old autistic son, William, and I are undertaking an ambitious challenge! This will be to trek the 215-mile length of the Severn Way together over seven stages. We will be doing this to raise funds to provide free tutoring for neurodivergent students who struggle to attend school - a cause that is particularly close to our hearts. Please read on to learn about our story and why we’re committing to this challenge.

A few years ago I left my career as an Earth scientist to provide care for William, who was struggling at school. Since this time we have found more balance, and I have forged a new career running The Autism Adventure hub, which supports the education of neurodivergent students who have difficulties learning at school. For this work I use my previous teaching/lecturing experience to provide inclusive online tutoring and support.

However, our journey to get here hasn’t been smooth. Trials have included my wife’s (William’s mum’s) cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as William’s struggle with epilepsy. During these times William and I have embraced buggy running. While William enjoys being pushed along at pace, he also likes getting out of his buggy to explore, so our excursions have been a great way for us both to stay healthy through trying times.

Our enjoyment of buggy running led us to undertake our first sponsored challenge in June 2024. This was a buggy marathon, raising funds to provide free tutoring to the students I support. We completed this in a time of 3 hours 51 minutes, although there was an additional 3 hours of “downtime” while William was out exploring! We exceeded our funding target of £2000 and I have since provided over 70 free tutoring sessions for seven individual students.

The uptake of this tutoring has meant we have now used most of our funding, so are hoping to secure a further £3000 through our new, even bigger challenge: William’s Severn Way Trek! Raising these funds will provide important opportunities for the neurodivergent students I work with. Many of these students are unable to attend school, making this tutoring vital for their education. The parents/carers of these students are also often unable to work due to care commitments. My ambition and passion is therefore to make education as affordable as possible for these families, with free tutoring being a key part of this.

Our Severn way excursion is designed with William in mind. The Severn Way follows the course of the River Severn for 215 miles, from its source in the mountains of Mid Wales to its mouth in the Bristol Channel. William loves being in nature, and particularly enjoys interacting with water, so our journey will be appealing to him. This will begin with hiking over uneven ground, providing lots of exploration opportunities. For the most part, though, our trek will involve buggy running alongside the river’s meandering mid- and lower course, which we know William will enjoy. The seven stages of our challenge will also be spread throughout the year, helping William to retain interest and enthusiasm for our mission.

Each of our seven stages will involve two or more days of consecutive travel along the Severn Way. These are currently planned to consist of the following (note that small changes to this schedule may occur):

1. Welsh Hills – 59 miles (Summer 2025)

2. Shropshire (Part 1) – 15.5 miles (Autumn 2025)

3. Shropshire (Part 2) – 20 miles (Autumn 2025)

4. Severn Valley – 39.5 miles (New Year 2025/6)

5. Worcestershire – 19 miles (Spring 2026)

6. Gloucestershire – 27 miles (Spring 2026)

7. Lower course – 35.5 miles (Easter 2026)

We will provide regular updates on our planning and progress via the Facebook page, “William’s Severn Way Trek”. Please get in touch via this page if you would like to learn more or join us for part of our adventure.

Any sponsorship is greatly appreciated, and all received funds will be used directly for our tutoring service (£30 pays for one online tutoring session, including my time, resources and administrative costs). We sincerely hope you can support or even run/walk along with us on our newest adventure!

Paul Anderson

William’s Dad

Tutor and Director of The Autism Adventure education hub

www.theautismadventure.co.uk