Haven House Chief Executive Mike Palfreman turned 60 this year and to mark this special milestone he along with two friends Paul Turrell and Simon Fanning will be walking the length of Great Britain - a mammoth 900 miles in just one month.  

This bank holiday weekend, the trio will be following in the footsteps of former cricketer Sir Ian Botham, aiming to walk from John O'Groats to Land's End. Their aim is to raise a staggering £100,000 for Haven House.   

This is Mike's 10th year as CEO and throughout that time he has completed numerous walking challenges with friends and colleagues - totalling 40,000km - the circumference of the world, however he admits this is the toughest task yet.  

He said: 

We thought what could we do next that is an even bigger challenge than we’ve done before? Up popped the idea of John O’Groats to Land’s End. It’s a big one and, make no bones about it, it’s going to be tough as it’s 900 miles and although we will have a rest day every week or so, it’s pretty much 30 miles a day for 30 days. Hopefully it catches the imagination and encourages people to support us.

 Labelling his Haven House role as the “best job I’ve ever had”, he said: “It can go from very sad days to incredibly joyful days but I think that range of emotions is part of what makes it such a satisfying job. 

“Just to be able to see the difference you are making to sick children and their wider families is incredibly satisfying.” 

 In a final message urging people to donate to the fundraiser, Mike added: “The fact that current COVID crisis is making life very uncertain for the hospice, makes the timing even more crucial and that’s why every pound we raise from the walk will be even more critical to ensure we can keep making the massive difference we do to the lives of sick children and their families.” 

 

You can make a donation to Mike's page here. 

 

Haven House would like to thank the following companies and individuals for sponsoring this challenge: