At 72, I can look back and say that I have enjoyed a good and fortunate life. I have worked, travelled, raised a family, enjoyed many adventures and experienced far more than I could ever have expected.

Now I would like to use my next adventure to give something back—particularly to children who have been far less fortunate and are facing challenges that no child or family should have to face.

In September 2026, my brother Dave and I will set off to cycle the Portuguese Coastal Camino. We will travel approximately 450 kilometres from Aveiro in Portugal to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, completing the journey over eleven riding days.

We will be riding e-bikes, but the batteries won’t turn the pedals for us. There will still be long days in the saddle, hills, rough tracks, cobbled streets and whatever weather the Atlantic coast chooses to send our way.

We are undertaking the ride to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and the extraordinary work it does for seriously ill children and their families.

I have had the opportunity to enjoy my life and do a great many things. Through this challenge, I hope to help give children who have been dealt a much harder hand the opportunity to enjoy more of theirs.

Every donation, however large or small, will be sincerely appreciated. It will also provide some welcome encouragement when our legs are aching and Santiago still seems a very long way away.

What is a Camino?

Camino simply means “the Way”, but the Camino de Santiago is not one single path. It is a great network of ancient pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain, where a tomb discovered in the ninth century is believed to be that of St James the Apostle. For more than a thousand years, people have travelled these routes seeking faith, reflection, adventure or simply the satisfaction of reaching the end. Its appeal is stronger than ever: more than half a million pilgrims received their Compostela certificate in 2025. This September, Dave and I will join them—cycling nearly 400 kilometres along the Portuguese Coastal Camino from Aveiro to Santiago.

Thank you for supporting us

Phil and Dave