So this year I will be 20 (ahem) again!  To be honest I’m not looking forward to it.

I decided that I needed a challenge so that when the big four…I mean twenty, rears its ugly head I can say I’ve grabbed life by the balls and done something amazing to celebrate.

I was quietly sitting in my office one day when the phone rang. That’s when I first spoke to Bex Bridgen. Quite frankly it is entirely her fault that I find myself in this predicament.

Along comes Bex from Sailors Society with this amazing challenge that, from the word go, I want to do. I completely ignored the fact that I have little to no upper body strength and the sporting endurance of a trifle. 

A 60 mile canoe up the Great Glen Canoe Trail, including braving the deep waters of Loch Ness (with Nessie lurking down there somewhere) seemed a jolly good idea.

But the best bit about this challenge is that I’m not really doing it for me. I’m doing it for Sailors Society which celebrates its bicentenary this year. That’s 200 years supporting seafarers, from the first floating chapel on the Thames to becoming a fully global organisation operating in 29 countries and 91 ports today.

Sailors Society works to transform seafarers’ lives, at home, in port and at sea. It is an international Christian charity working in ports across the world. The chaplains help seafarers and their families, from all faiths and none, with welfare and practical support. They visit ships in ports and talk with seafarers away from home for up to a year at a time; they help them get in touch with much missed loved ones and access medical treatment; they liaise with frightened families when seafarers are kidnapped by terrorists or imprisoned, mostly through no fault of their own; and they build homes and schools and provide grants to bring hope and security to seafaring communities.

They cannot do this without our help. 

Why should we care?

Almost everything we own or use comes by sea – our cars, our computers, our phones.

We all rely on seafarers. Seafarers rely on us.

Please support me and the seafarers, not because I'm turning forty (and having achieved something like this will make me feel better about it) but because the thousands of seafarers out there need our help to make their lives just a little bit easier.

Many Thanks

Vicki W