In March 2026, our colleague and friend Mandy Blake lost her husband, Ken, unexpectedly following a heart attack.

Ken was a proud Army veteran and a passionate supporter of The Gurkha Welfare Trust. Alongside Mandy, he supported the charity for many years and deeply admired the Gurkha community and the sacrifices they have made in service.

Ken had planned to take on The Trailwalker Challenge in September 2026: the ultimate team endurance event, requiring teams to walk, jog or run 100km non-stop across the South Downs in under 30 hours. Participants follow in the footsteps of the famous Gurkhas, raising funds to support Gurkha veterans, their families and communities in Nepal.

Sadly, Ken never got the chance to take on the challenge himself.

So now, we’re doing it for him.

To honour Ken’s memory, the Mindflick team will be taking on our own 100km challenge across the Peak District. Over 30 hours, we’ll cover four 25km stages through some of the UK’s most beautiful and demanding terrain. We will walk, run and push ourselves through the full 100km together, completing the distance Ken had hoped to conquer himself.

Every donation raised will support The Gurkha Welfare Trust, a charity that provides financial, medical and community support to Gurkha veterans, their widows, families and communities across Nepal. The Trust was founded to ensure that retired Gurkha soldiers, many of whom served Britain with extraordinary courage but did not qualify for military pensions, could live with dignity and security in later life.

Today, the charity continues that mission through welfare payments, healthcare programmes, disaster relief, schools, water projects and community development initiatives throughout Nepal.

Ken cared deeply about this cause because it reflected the values he lived by: loyalty, service, generosity and looking after others.

We are heartbroken that we don’t get to walk this journey with him. But through this challenge, we hope to honour his memory, celebrate his life and continue supporting the cause he and Mandy believed in so passionately.

Thank you for helping us remember Ken and make a difference in his name.