I am walking 100 miles South Downs Way in 9 days for Friends of Chichester Hospitals, who are raising money for hi-tech laparoscopic equipment to make colon cancer treatment much more efficient and less invasive.

A good walk can do wonders for our health, and mental well-being, and especially in recent times, many of us savour those moments to escape, as well as enabling us more time to appreciate our beautiful surroundings.   

Between 9th-16th June, I will dust off my walking boots and set foot on the South Downs Way to walk the 100 miles (160km), while enjoying the 4,150m (13,620 ft) of elevation change. I will start the journey from Eastbourne at the famous and spectacular Seven Sisters, then finish in Winchester. The National Trail, is one of the UK’s most challenging with the chalk and flint-covered South Downs hills with its eroded, uneven tracks, making the risk of blisters one of the biggest challenges roughly 275,000 steps (average of 30,000 steps per day). 

I walked this route in Sept 2021 from Winchester to Eastbourne, so this time I will walk the route in reverse (Eastbourne to Winchester), which will be an interesting challenge. I will hopefully be accompanied for most of it by my dog Maisie.  

I have a complete phobia about hospitals, so it’s a little ironic that I now volunteer to raise awareness for a charity that supports my local hospital.  However, many of us take for granted that when we are ill and in need of a hospital, they have the best equipment available; as a patient, your hospital stay is as comfortable as possible and as a visitor, it’s reassuring to have access to comfortable and friendly amenities.  It’s important to remember everyone in the UK is fortunate to have the NHS, and even if you can pay for private health procedures - in case of emergency everyone will go through A&E at the nearest hospital to be assessed. 

Friends of Chichester Hospitals is a charity that exists to buy equipment which is not funded by the NHS for Chichester area hospitals - namely St Richard’s. It is currently busy funding some amazing new, hi-tech laparoscopic equipment to make colon cancer treatment much more efficient and less invasive. It will cost the charity about £90,000.  

The Friends also runs the hospital shop and ward trolleys providing a friendly face to patients, staff and visitors. As well as smaller purchases such as toys, games, and books to reduce stress and boredom for children.

The Friends ensure that:

- Staff have the best equipment available to treat and care for patients.

- A patient’s hospital stay is as comfortable as possible.

- Patients, staff and visitors are served by the hospital shop and ward trolleys.

Friends’ funds come from a variety of sources, from small individual donations to substantial grants and legacies. 

I hope my walk with Maisie will first raise awareness of such charities that may operate near you and raise some much-deserved donations for the Friends of Chichester Hospital. 

I welcome you to follow my daily blog as I walk 100 miles. Thank you for your time and any kind of donations you can make. 

I am proud to work for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who allows me the flexibility to volunteer this time and match your donations (up to a healthy limit) - HPE Gives is a global giving and volunteering program, and more than that, it's the spirit of HPE team members coming together, bringing their best selves to work, and showing up for the communities where they live and work.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.