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.

I will be walking from Orsieres in Switzerland, over the Alps, into the Italian Aosta valley and walk the 1,088 kilometres to St Peters Square in Rome in just 35 days.

I’ll be doing this for Mencap and for my daughter, Hayley

Hayley is 26, she is amazing, she is lovely, she has profound learning difficulties and autism.  She contracted viral encephalitis just a few weeks after being born which damaged her brain.  I remember her being in intensive care, and the doctors telling us to say our goodbyes as she was unlikely to make it.  She’s a fighter and she made it, and she’s been fighting all her life; fighting to be independent, fighting to be included, fighting to be respected and fighting to call somewhere home.

After leaving school she became very hard to look after and began to need specialist support 24/7.  This meant we had to find somewhere for her to call a home with people who could support her properly.  It’s taken 5 years, and 2 places we hoped would she could call home, but failed her massively, for us to finally find somewhere we hope she can call home forever.

The care system for adults with learning difficulties is on its knees, there’s not enough support out there, staff are paid peanuts, and all too often care breaks down and those adults who so desperately need care, don’t get it, or the care isn’t good enough and that just causes a vicious circle where challenging behaviours become more prominent and the provision of care, harder

About Mencap

For 75 years, Mencap has provided essential support to the 1.5 million people with a learning disability and their families in the UK. Mencap are the UK’s largest provider of services for people with alearning disability. Right now, people with a learning disability face inequality in every area of life. They face barriers finding a job, accessing activities in their local community and receiving good quality healthcare. They tackle these issues head on by;providing supportgiving expert advice and information that empowers people and their familiescampaigning relentlessly for changes that brings greater equality for people with a learning disability.

Help me help Mencap, so they can continue their amazing work