An Edinburgh man from Leith is embarking on a 600 mile trek for charity.
Matthew Sergeant set off on June 1 from John O’Groats in Scotland and is going to walk all the way to Lands’ End in England.
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The aim is to walk the entirety of the UK in aid of the charity Sported which is a UK charity that works with community sports groups.
The trip will take him two months to complete as he backpacks the length of the United Kingdom.
Matthew has a target to raise £1,300 for the charity and has reached almost £300 of his goal so far.
He is an advocate for exercise being a good way to improve all round wellbeing and has seen the charity walk as a good way to explore the UK.
He said: “I’ve always had a bit of a bug for adventure and the great outdoors, from reading books about the great adventurers of the past to watching documentaries about people who continue to explore the world – I knew it was something I would love to experience for myself.
The End-to-End trek appealed to me because it highlights the fact that you don’t have to travel around the world in search of an adventure, it can be right on your doorstep. There’s so much of the UK I haven’t seen, and I think the best way to see it is on foot!”
“I believe that sport and exercise of any kind has the power to change lives and that's why I have chosen to raise money for Sported. When planning this challenge, I decided that if I could raise money for a good cause and allow others to benefit from it then it would make the trek all the more worthwhile.”
Sported is a charity supporting the UK’s largest network of community sports groups and they currently support half a million young people across the country.
There are over 2,600 groups across the UK working with Sported who help disadvantaged young people build confidence and build skills using sports.
Providing the services and support to help these groups survive, Sported are at the centre of these community sports teams.
Tom Burstow, Deputy CEO at Sported said: “We are delighted that Matthew has decided to support Sported whilst embarking on his challenging trek down the length of the United Kingdom.
We wish him all the best for his journey and will be cheering him on over the next couple of months. We also look forward to welcoming him to some of the groups in the Sported network on his travels so that he can meet the wonderful local heroes running the groups and understand how the funds he’s raising will be used to help groups survive and thrive.”
To support Matthew with his cause you can donate here.
