UPDATE -  walking over 10,000 miles around the world for several charities - most recently for Siobhan's Trust.

Between 2018 and 2020 I hiked 6,300 miles across America, Europe and the Middle East as part of a world walk. The next country I was due to walk through was Ukraine. First Covid put a stop to this, then Putin's brutal invasion.

But I was still able to walk 750 km from Vilnius, Lithuania to Lviv, Ukraine last year to support Siobhan's Trust, a small, hugely focused charity that has been doing outstanding work helping Ukrainian people traumatized by war since the start of the conflict. 

Thanks for everyone's kindness a total of £4111 was raised during this walk, but now I am continuing to walk approx 4000km across Australia in an attempt to double this amount to £10,000. Like my world walk, I will walk in a continuous line. Though I'm carrying more heart and prostate pills this time, there's life in the old dog yet, and I'm determined to see it through to raise funds for this wonderful cause.

My great friend, David Fox-Pitt, with a tiny posse of volunteers and a mobile pizza oven, set off to the Ukraine-Polish border within the first days of the invasion. Since then, the charity has expanded into Ukraine and has a small fleet of trucks that have been distributing food across the war-torn country, often only miles from the frontline.

The Siobhan's Trust team has continually offered support, encouragement, shelter, food and love to thousands of Ukrainians. They are doing everything they can to help the Ukrainian people in their hour of need.

I don't know about you but I've felt helpless to do anything about this awful war on our doorstep.  The number of innocent people of all ages losing their lives daily is simply beyond the pale. 

By supporting Siobhan's Trust (ST), which I know doesn't waste a penny of its donations, I can vouch, having seen the amazing ST volunteers in action last year in Kyiv, you will really be making a difference.

Times are tough now, so if you can't afford to give a donation, please don't, but if you can, even a small amount goes a long way, especially for a small, focused charity like ST. Ukraine is now less in the headlines but support is needed more than ever. ALL the money will go direct to Siobhan's Trust.

The walk will also be covered on Facebook and Instagram (both under Tom Fremantle) and there's a live map of the walk on my website (www.tomsworldwalk.com) and if you use Strava, I'm using this at times too.

Thanks so much for reading this far and if you can make a donation to Siobhan's Trust and the effective, compassionate, and vital work the ST volunteers are doing in Ukraine, it would be massively appreciated by David and all ST's brilliant team of volunteers and by me  - but most importantly, by the Ukrainian people.

Thank you!

(Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast, and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.)