By sheer coincidence, our first two fundraising events of 2015 are both endurance events, and they’re both in Scotland. At the end of May, Martin and Chris ran the Edinburgh marathon in ridiculously quick times, 3.24 and 3.40 respectively. I joked with Martin that I couldn’t watch a marathon in that space of time, and those that know me will appreciate that it’s not so far from the truth. The very thought of running 26 miles makes me shudder.
(Martin & Chris after completing the Edinburgh Marathon)
Having said that, i’ve decided along with my good friends Dan, Fin, Jenna, Joe and Kate to walk the length of the West Highland Way in just five days in July. That’s 96miles for those of you that are interested. If you would like to sponsor us in our attempt to battle the infamous Scottish summer weather, whilst trying to protect ourselves from the swarms of hungry midsummer midges, then you can visit our fundraising page here:
(The 96mile route that takes us across ‘Yon bonnie banks of Loch Lomond’)
We hope that this ‘Walk for Wellbeing’ in Scotland will be the first of many that we can arrange over the next few years, in order to be one of the many ways that we raise funds for the work that we support in Uganda. Fundamentally, the idea for the ‘Walk for Wellbeing’ came from our research into how we could measure our impact as an organisation. We’ve decided that we want to support projects in Uganda that support people across the five ways to wellbeing, and this philosophy is true of our work in the UK as well. According to the New Economics Foundation, the five ways to wellbeing are:
Connect
Be active
Give
Take Notice
Keep Learning
We believe that something as simple as organising and participating in a charitable walk can encompass all five of these ways to wellbeing and these are very simple things that you can incorporate into your every day life to improve your own wellbeing. As a test, I will write a blog after our walk in July, discussing, amongst other things, how the walk made me feel in relation to my own wellbeing.
You can find out more about the five ways to wellbeing here: http://www.neweconomics.org/projects/entry/five-ways-to-well-being
(Practice makes perfect; our very first practice walk!)
We’d be absolutely delighted to hear from you if you’re interested in either participating in a future walk, or whether you are interested in arranging a walk for you and your friends or work colleagues. It certainly doesn’t have to be 96miles, and it doesn’t have to be in Scotland! We have a dedicated team of volunteers who can offer you support to organise your event, and we will provide you with a fundraising kit and t-shirt for each participant. If you would like to talk to us about a walk, then drop us an email to info@zuriprojectuganda.org or send us a message on Facebook and we will get back to you.
We’re all very excited about our challenge, and some of the guys will be blogging about their experience! If you’re interested in how we get on, we’ll be posting daily photos to our Twitter & Facebook feeds, as well as the odd rambling from the team. Wish us luck!
Ross. @rossoross