Writing Hope into a Fatherless Story

I am a blessed man: I have three wonderful kids, and two of those are boys. And you know what? They have me. They have a dad in their lives. They also have uncles, cousins, a grandpa, sports coaches and some brilliant music teachers. I’m blessed, and my kids are blessed too.

It breaks my heart, but some lads out there simply don’t have those positive male role models in their lives.

Approximately 2 million children have no meaningful contact with their fathers. Many boys are growing up in “Men Deserts” and are left to discover masculinity for themselves and 76% of young people in custody had an absent father. (Source: Centre for Social Justice)

So my lad Patrick and I will be attempting to walk 50 miles inside one day, in aid of a super charity called Chapter2. Chapter2 provide long-term and dedicated 1-2-1 male mentors for fatherless boys.

And the day we’ll be attempting to walk this mammoth walk? On Father’s Day. (Actually we start the day before FD and will finish on Father's Day).

Please do sponsor us. We’ve both been training for this, and quite honestly I really don’t know if I can still walk 50 miles in a day (ten years since I last did it) and Patrick has never walked anything like that far in his life.

Your sponsorship would mean so much.

(And to Dave – one of my lad’s brilliant football coaches, thanks. Thanks for telling the lads they need to get fit in their own time. Because that is when Patrick asked if I could take him for a run. And that, was the beginning of this challenge, plus many miles and hours with my son. Dave, thank you for being a lovely man).