Local man will walk over 4,000 miles in mega-fundraiser
Starting in May 2015, East Grinstead resident, Steve Cook, will walk over 4,000 miles alone and unassisted around the entire coast of the British mainland to raise funds for drug education for the nation’s children. His mega-hike, which his website, describes as “not so much a walk as a crusade”, will start and finish in East Grinstead and take a route through over 1,000 coastal towns and villages over a period of about nine months.
Steve, an author of several books of fiction and non-fiction as well as a columnist for your very own Sussex Newspaper, explained that, in an effort to keep the costs down and maximise the funds that can be raised, he will be sleeping in a tent under the stars unless kindly offered overnight accommodation by well-wishers along the way.
He has set himself quite a challenge, especially as he will be nearly 64 years old by the time he returns to East Grinstead at the end of 2015 and, as far as he knows, the oldest person ever to have undertaken a walk that only a handful of people have ever done. Indeed, we believe that fewer people have walked the British coast in one single “hit” than have climbed Mount Everest, gone to the Moon, rowed the Atlantic or swum the English Channel.
When we asked Steve why, at an age when most men are putting their feet up, he has set himself such a gruelling task, he explained:
“To be honest with you, when I volunteered to do this it was probably a moment of madness. By the time I came to my senses it was too late; I had already been on BBC radio and told everyone what I was going to do. If it’s on the BBC it must be true, so now I’m committed.” But then he added:
“Seriously though, I have not entered into this lightly or on a whim. The cause I am raising funds for is important for the future of the country and its children. It’s worth giving it everything I’ve got.”
The goal of his crusade is very emphatically stated on his website, walkthekingdom.co.uk:
“I want to help the crusade to bring effective drug education to the children of our country so that they are armed with knowledge that will fire-proof them against the tricks, traps, peer pressures and persuasions that can lead them into drug experimentation, dependency and ruin.”
He explained that he worked for several years in drug rehab. During that time he saw first-hand the ruin, misery, despair and death that drugs bring to the lives of users and to those who care about them. As a father and grandfather he decided to help all young people gain enough understanding of drugs to make the right pro-survival choices when presented with the temptations that are inevitable in a society awash with drugs and their unscrupulous purveyors, pushers and salesmen.
His walk has a two-fold purpose:
The first is to raise funds to support the stellar work of the drug education crusader, Peter Dwan, who has devoted his life to bringing children the truth about drugs. Operating out of Manchester, Peter has talked to over 60 000 children in the last few years, all across the UK, Ireland and even New Zealand. His ground-breaking approach educates the young about drugs in a way that they can relate to, understand and USE to make their own pro-survival choices about drugs. And this provides an answer to the problem that vexes so many teachers and parents who are concerned about their children having a secure and drug-free future. The problem is this: just how DO you talk to kids about drugs in a way that gets the right result? And by the “right result” is meant: a child who makes his or her OWN decision not to use drugs. Steve’s website gives more details about Peter’s remarkably effective approach.
The second is to get the whole community of our country – teachers, parents, community leaders and children – shoulder-to-shoulder behind Peter’s crusade so that all children can benefit and none miss out. As Steve explained: “The truth of the matter is that one man cannot do this alone. Peter needs our help. I am giving him mine. I hope the nation will do likewise because the drugs epidemic and ruination of young lives is a problem that affects us all. Through Pete’s work, we have a chance to do something about it if we work together on it as a community. I believe that, if we do right by our children now, a few years up the line, the UK will be the first drug-free country.”
Steve will take a computer tablet with him on his adventure and upload photos and daily video reports on his progress around mainland Britain to his website, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages and his YouTube channel as well as to subscribers on his email lists.
He will also be encouraging schools, scout troops, army cadet troops, youth clubs, walking clubs and so on – and indeed anyone who wants to help this national crusade – to organise their own sponsored walks where they can walk with him along sections of his route.
You will be able to follow his progress on the aforementioned channels and here at The Sussex Newspaper we will also keep you informed.
Please check out Steve’s Walk the Kingdom website now and give him your support.