Thanks for taking the time to visit this JustGiving page.

In the 1980s I was unlucky enough to have kidney failure, and in 1987 I was lucky enough to have a kidney transplant.  Over 31 years later that kidney's still going strong, and I've enjoyed a normal healthy life the entire time - chiefly because the donated kidney was such a good match.  My wife Jacqui and I planned to spend a fortnight in Spring 2017 walking the 177 miles of Offa’s Dyke, aiming to encourage as many more people as possible to join the organ donor register.  Unfortunately we each had injuries last year that prevented us from doing a long-distance walk, so we postponed it until Spring 2018.  We're now in training once more, and the aim remains the same: to get more people to register as organ donors - the more of you there are, the higher the chance of a great match for someone now on the waiting list.

Why Offa’s Dyke?  In Wales there is a ‘presumed consent’ system for organ donation, but in England people currently have to ‘opt in’.  Offa's Dyke marks the boundary: walking it draws attention to the need for more donors and demonstrates just how enabling a transplant can be.

So if you haven't already "opted in" please take two minutes to sign up at https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/. If you’re already registered, great: please encourage colleagues/friends/family to sign up too. This can transform someone’s life; my family and I are so grateful to the donor who gifted me the last 30+ years.

If in addition to (or instead of) signing up to the organ donor register you'd like to support the excellent work of the Bristol Area Kidney PatientsAssociation then please donate via this JustGiving page.  My original target was £1565: that was £1 for each week of the 30 years' healthy life that I'd enjoyed because of the donor whose kidney I received on 14 March 1987.  That target (and the 30 years) has already been exceeded, so thank you to those who've already donated so generously - let's now aim even higher...

Thank you!

Pete