A Million Steps in a Month.

Aim

Walking 1,000,000+ steps in August for Surrey Drug and Alcohol Care, who helped me rebuild my life. Target £1 for every 100 steps.

The Why.

A number of years ago, the odds of me turning my life around were a million to one.

I don't say that lightly.

My drinking had led me to a place that I couldn't see a way out of.

What changed everything was a free local charity, Surrey Drug and Alcohol Care (SDAC), and their Telephone Counselling & Boot Camp Service.

It gave me a roadmap out of the darkness, a daily structure I still live by, and a glint of hope when I had none.

I got sober.

I rebuilt my life.

The ripple has since reached my family, my friends, my community, and people I've been able to help find their own way to recovery.

SDAC's Bootcamp is intensive, personal, and completely free to everyone who needs it. It's there at the end of a phone for people at their lowest, but it only exists because people fund it.

It is led by two wonderful men, who are true angels and giants in my eyes.

The Challenge.

This August, starting on Saturday, I'm walking over ONE MILLION steps, one for every one of those million-to-one odds, to make sure this service is there for the next person searching for a way out.

From 1–31 August that's more than 1,000,000 steps in a month or 500 miles: roughly 32,000 a day, every day, no days off. It includes planned hikes including:

• The North Downs 50 ultra — 50km on 1 August
• The full South Downs Way — 160km, Winchester to Eastbourne 2 - 7 August
• The London Summer Walk — 25km on 22 August

…and a lot of miles in between and opportunities to join that I will share in the coming weeks.

The Ask.

The target is £10,000.

The maths is simple: £1 for every 100 steps I take. A fiver walks me 500 steps, £50 walks 5,000. I'm putting in the first £500 myself on 1 August, and a generous local business has already added £500 more, so we're £1,000 in before I've taken a step. Please help me keep that momentum going.

If you are a business and want to also sponsor a day for £500, let me know. 

Every pound keeps that phone line open and the Boot Camp service there and ready for someone who needs it.

Want to be part of it?

• Donate here, however small, it all adds up.
• Walk a leg with me, I'd genuinely love the company (message me on here or on social media)
• Follow the journey - a video every day on Instagram @amillionstepsinamonth, and follow me on Strava

The Help.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, please don't wait.

SDAC's free, confidential helpline is 0808 802 5000.

It's the call that changed my life.

It all starts with a single step. Thank you for being part of mine.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made