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My name is James Hankins. Originally from Cornwall and now live in the Scottish Highlands and worked as a driving instructor for 15 years. I am no stranger to charity challenges, most of which have been to raise money for Mental health charities. I was heavily involved in the support for Natalia Spencer's 8000 mile walk around the coast of mainland Britain in 2016-17 in memory of her daughter Elizabeth to raise money for children's hospitals, as well her subsequent walk around the South West in 2018. My last personal walk was in 2023 where I walked across Scotland from Gretna to John O'Groats in 14 days for MentalHealth UK. I thought that would be my retirement from charity events.

However in April 2026 I came across John Bell and Graham Lynk, two berieved fathers who are walking from John O'Groats to Land's End in memory of their lost sons. John is dressed as his sons favourite character Deadpool, and carrying a bathtub for the entire distance to represent the weight of grief. I passed John and Graham will I was doing a leisurely jaunt of the Great Glen Way and decided to catch up with them again while they were on the West Highland Way. Their story has truly enspired me to help their cause - Walking4hope.org, a charity they set up for suicide awareness and prevention with the goal of setting up a basecamp in the Midlands for people to connect with nature. At the time of writing this their walk is still on going and I wan to spend a lot of time promoting their walk and encouraging donations.

After this is complete I will be embarking on my own crazy idea albeit nowhere as big as a 1000 mile walk! This is something I've been planning to do for ages to test my endurance as well as to help my mental health which hasn't been great of late. This was never intended to be for charity, just something for fun. But after hearing about John and Graham's struggles it would seem like a waste not to get some good from it and raise even more money for Walking4hope.

So the plan is...from 6am on Friday 12th June to 6am on Saturday 13th June I will be walking for 24 hours straight around the capital of the Highlands - Inverness. A 24 hour Walkathon, where I will be continuing walking non stop with only brief rest stops, updating my progress and distance every hour for 24 hours and badgering people for donations along the way. To make it easier I've chosen Inverness as there will be plenty of areas to continually walk around that are flat, as well as always near shelter, toilets, refreshments and people for donations! Also June in the Highlands means and it never gets truely dark at night so psychologically will make it easier walking during the night. It will be a real test of endurance and mental strength, not only to stay awake for 24 hours but to also be on my feet for most of that time. Im planning to give myself a maximum of 2 hours total resting time over the 24 hours for food, toilet breaks etc. I will have my partner Aimee nearby for logistical support if needed. It will be tough for me but compared to John and Graham its more like a fun day out...however you view it if I get just a few quid for Walking4hope and grow the awareness of the charity I will feel like I've done them proud!

I want to cover at least 50 miles in 24 hours, breaking my current daily walking record of 33 miles in around 14 hours. Whatever the mileage and whatever the amount of pain im determined to keep going and I wont be walking through the doors of my Travelodge room in Inverness until the clock strikes 6am on Saturday 13th!

If anyone would like to join me part of the walk from the 12th feel free to do so. I will be starting at 6am from Howden's Garden Centre and will be posting updates of my location every hour on social media