Arthur's Amazing Journey

My name is Arthur Richford,a volunteer mainly in the community social transformation sector and I'm calling this my amazing journey because I'm finally going to do it! I've wanted to do a charity walk for many years and it's about to become a reality.

I'm passionate about my cause and passionate about the journey itself. First, the cause.

I am raising money for the charity, 'The Choir with No Name’ which benefits those on the margins of society, of which I'm a helper and a singing member. Many of us have experienced homelessness at some point in our lives. Part of my bigger vision for fundraising is to work towards a shelter for the homeless called 'Change House' , which will give homeless people a week's respite from being on the streets. Sometimes it's enough to break the habit of homelessness. Although I have had a home and been in recovery for many years, having been there I know what it’s like.

For the walk itself, that's also a subject close to my heart.

I plan to walk 450kms through Italy, starting near Rimini, which is my mother's birthplace, heading South to Assisi and then West from Assisi to Rome. I'll be taking some of the route my father took as an English soldier during the second world war, before he met my mother and they married in San Marino.

I’m 65 years old, I have two slipped discs and walk with a stick amongst other chronic health issues, which is another reason why this journey will be pretty amazing. People say mine is s story of triumph over adversity and they are right - and if I can do it, others can too.