Alton man raises over £1,100 for children's charity by completing 133 mile walk

A 31-year-old man from Alton has successfully completed a pilgrimage from Winchester to Canterbury, walking the historic Pilgrims’ Way to raise funds for The Children’s Society.

Alexander Adams started his journey on 12th September at Winchester Cathedral, Alex undertook the challenge to support the charity's work with vulnerable children and young people facing serious issues such as exploitation and abuse.

Alex used to work as a teacher in Hong Kong, and he says seeing the struggles that some children faced out there motivated him to try and make a difference here

"When I was working in Hong Kong, I was working at a tutoring centre for children, I saw the way that these children were pushed by their family sometimes to achieve what they can.

I had one child who was really happy that they got to spend 20 minutes playing with their friend.

I had other children who seemed to have trouble at home, but they didn't have the vocabulary or the language skills in order to properly articulate what it was that they were going through, which was really heartbreaking because you don't have lot of authority.

You don't have the power to change anything like that in my position while I was there.

When I was doing this pilgrimage, I was thinking about how this is something which will actively help, will directly improve, even if it's in a small way, the lives of some of these children who I felt like I couldn't really help apart from just trying to clear them up in the classroom while I was in Hong Kong"

On 27th September, Alex reached his destination at Canterbury Cathedral, having walked a total distance of 223 kilometres.

Alex told us what he thought was one of the most remarkable aspects of the jounrey

"We are saturated in so much history in England specifically. I know everywhere else as well, but you don't realise how close you are to a thousand year old or six thousand year old in one case.

I saw all of the like the Neolithic structures in Kent and it's incredible to think of how old some of these things are.

If you are in somewhere like Aylesford you can line up so you can be standing on like a Roman villa and then behind the trees you know there is a Saxon church and behind that you know that there is like its coffee house which is like a bone marker from the Stone Age."

Throughout the pilgrimage, he carried a donations box to collect funds for the charity, raising over £1,150, with contributions collected both physically and online.

Alex says then community support he received on the way was unbelievable

"I went to the White Horse Inn in Sheer, and the landlady gave a shout out, and then I was able to go around to the different tables and just get some change from different people around.

But even that was really, really meaningful to think that people were that willing to help contribute, even if it was only in a small way

I think I would like to thank everybody who I met along the way who supported me. Thank you so much for all the cups of tea and the laundry and the space to sleep and the food. And West Humble gave me homemade marmalade. Isn't that sweet?"

The Children's Society aims to provide important support to young people experiencing or at risk of serious hardship, including poor mental health. Alexander's efforts have helped in bringing attention to their cause.

Alex also writes online, and documented his pilgrimage in detail on his website Shambles Ramble

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