Losing Ron Barnett, my dear close friend, to Parkinson’s last year has affected me more than I could have imagined. I’ve felt real sadness and I miss him more than I ever thought I would. Having grown old together, raised our children alongside each other and holidayed on numerous occasions with him and his lovely wife Carol, it doesn’t feel right or fair that he’s not around anymore.

But I’m so very grateful for the adventures we shared over the years including trips to South Africa, Namibia and South America, and we even saw the Football World Cup in Johannesburg in 2010. Sadly this is when he became very poorly.

Anyway, back to why I’m here. I have always fancied doing a challenge, and as I’m now 70, it’s never going to be Mount Everest, but getting from London to Scotland on public buses with no pre-booked accommodation and very strict rules (no motorways and no walking for more than an hour) is something I think I can manage. I’ve decided to do this in memory of Ron and to raise money for the Parkinson’s charity who desperately need funding to find a cure for this very cruel disease.

Not only am I taking on this challenge, I’m going with my eldest daughter Jo, so that’s a double challenge if ever there was one! ;-) She’s used to a bit of luxury and has to have everything planned to the finest detail, so watching her get on and off public buses with no idea of where she’s staying each night is going to be interesting. We set off on the 15th May and we hope to get there before the 20th (at the latest).

So folks, I will be ever so grateful if my friends and family could dig deep and sponsor us for this very worthy cause.

We will be Tweeting, Facebooking and Instagramming (or Jo will) along the way and you can also follow our adventure on our blog: https://fromheretoayr.wordpress.com

For more information about what Parkinson’s UK does see their website: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/