Actually, if truth be told we signed up on a bit of a whim, it sounded interesting, we fancied doing something different, we could raise a bit for charity, add in a bit of team-building, that sort of thing. It is only since we have been training for a few months that the full implication and meaning of the Trek has sunk in.

In the mists of Rivington

The Oxfam TrailTrekker is a 101.5km (63 miles) non-stop trek around the Yorkshire Dales which has to be completed in teams of four and within 30 hours. I don’t know how we managed to convince eight people to take part, but we did. And then, on training walks, the reality began to creep in… it was going to be very long, very hard and very painful!

Another hill...

The route on the day(s!) will be punctuated by Water Stops and Checkpoints where we will be able to refill our drink bottles and food supplies. Our Support Crew, made up of three of Forepoint’s best, will also ensure that we have everything we need in the way of spare clothing, nibbles, treats and it has to be said – painkillers!

One thing you have plenty of on a long distance walk is time to think and this can be both a blessing and a curse – let your spirits flag when you’re getting weary and your thoughts can sink you faster than a torpedo. On the other hand, it can give you time to consider why you are putting yourself through all the blisters, sweat and tears. In the beginning for me it was personal; I wanted to get fit, lose weight, and get back out onto the hills and mountains that I’d loved to walk in my teens and early twenties, but that has now changed.

Oxfam has told us that the money we raise will go directly into disaster response, helping to aid those whose lives have been turned up-side-down by earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters. It can often be hard to empathize with people suffering when they are thousands of miles away, the horrors sanitized by the television screen. However, when the Earthquake hit Japan, in March, I contacted a cousin of mine who’d been working out there to see if any of his colleagues had been affected. Fortunately, no one from the office had been directly hurt, but some of them were having, because the transport infrastructure had been destroyed, to walk up to 40km home to see if their loved ones were still alive. This struck a chord with me. Here we were feeling very noble about walking for charity when people, just like us, had no alternative but to walk huge distances under much, much worse conditions. How would we feel? How would we cope in that situation?

So, whilst we have been getting many plaudits for taking on what will, undoubtedly, be one of the toughest challenges of our lives, it is the difference that the money we raise will make that will be the most meaningful.

If you’d like to support us please got to one of our fundraising  pages:

http://www.justgiving.com/ForepointTeams
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/forepointteams

And the quality of life? So much better, a beautiful Victorian building, trees, open space and free parking. Plus we all live within 15 minutes or so of the studio. And our clients love the place too for all its character.

So it’s a win-win situation for us, our clients and the environment. And if you feel like experiencing fresh ideas and fresh air, why not call in and see us.