My aim is to complete 1,500 miles before the end of the year and that's specific walking and not including moving about the house etc.
There are certain charities that I like to support including the East Anglian Air Ambulance, the RNLI and the East Anglian Children's Hospice. All these have one thing in common. They rely on private funding and receive nothing from the Government.
I have always thought this to be unfair, but now have a slightly different view after a tour of the Air Ambulance headquarters in Norwich as part of the Heritage Open Days. Having Government funding immediately places constraints on a charity. Without those constraints, which can verge on interference, they are freer to conduct their business in a more open and constructive way.
The East Anglian Air Ambulance HQ is on the Norwich Airport complex and it's a place to be very proud of. But the figures are quite astounding . It costs £70 million a year to operate the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Yes that's £70 million a year or well over £1 million every week.
They rely largely on money left in wills, on donations and on people raising money. My aim for the year was to raise £500 which looks and sounds like a miniscule drop in the ocean. In fact I'm quite embarrassed by it. But as they say every little helps.
Just walking round the HQ gives an impression of togetherness and everyone working as a team. Interestingly they spell the word team rather differently by incorporating the initials EAAA for East Anglian Air Ambulance within the word to make it TEAAAM. Clever or what?
It didn't surprise me to learn that EAAA was named one of the best places in East Anglia to work. It blends professionals with a host of volunteers - all designed to save lives.
I assumed that the EAAA had hundreds of sites identified for landing during emergencies. Not so. It's all down to identifying somewhere to land using maps and knowledge. So they could even land in someone's garden as volunteer Simon explained when he told us that the ambulance dropped in on a neighbour's lawn in his Suffolk village. Mind you it must have been a big lawn.
So I had better give you an update on my walking challenge. As of yesterday I have walked 1,086 miles and still have 414 to go. That's an average of 4.18 miles per day to date. I have raised something like £350 but would like to increase this in the last three months of the year.
I took quite a few photos of the Air Ambulance which are included with this blog. If you would like to support my marathon effort you can donate via my Just Giving page. Huge thanks to all those who have already made a donation and thanks in anticipation of those who will donate in the future.
Peter Steward is fundraising for East Anglian Air Ambulance (justgiving.com)
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/peter-steward