Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
12 years ago I had the idea to cycle to Extremadura, the cork growing region of Spain, where sustainable land use provides home for wolf, lynx and imperial eagle alongside man- practicing extensive, low intensity farming, and of course, producing the marvellous, ancient, renewable resource- CORK! which has closed our bottles of wine, floated our fishing nets and insulated our homes for millennia.... I wanted to raise awareness of this incredibly biodiverse landscape, before, due to a decline in demand, the cork producing "dehesas" are replaced by eucalyptus plantations for paper pulp to feed our single sided office printers.
My initial intention had been to raise money for arthritis research, a debilitating disease I have suffered from since then. Times have changed, as they always do. I am 12 years too late to turn the tide of the screw cap wine bottle. In a time of humanitarian crises on so many fronts, there are many in more urgent need of medical attention than I. So I ask you to give generously to MSF, who bravely help those on the front line around the world, in these dangerous and difficult times.
I am thankful to the Norfolk Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group for allowing me to take a month off work.
Now in memory of three inspirational friends, heroes, father figures, & mentors, Tarka Cordell, David English & Bob James, I plan to set sail from Portsmouth on the 9th of May, to ride through France and Spain, to the dehesas of Extremadura. To raise awareness of the importance of cork and raise money for MSF.
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