Why I am walking the entire South West Coast Path this summer.

So 2020 definitely didn’t go in the direction I had hoped for when we first entered this new decade. I had put together a vision board and had some very clear goals about how this year was going to go. After two years of extreme personal challenges including homelessness, harassment and severe loss I was ready for this year to be my year.

The groundwork had been done and everything was on track. I had made huge lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, giving up caffeine, being in therapy for 9 months and focusing on my mental and physical health all while getting both my businesses to where I wanted them to be.

And then Covid happened.

A huge collective trauma that ripped the bottom out the world for a lot of people and sent them into free fall, myself included.

And then more stuff was thrown at me, my mental health declined fast into oblivion, further harassment from my ex, a disappointing outcome from the police (again) I was given notice on where I live and then it turned out I had to move my horse Pearl as well.

It was like the universe was taking everything away and saying ‘nope not for you, pick another direction’

It made me stop and think about what do I really want.

With Pearl moving to a lovely retirement place for horses in Canterbury for the first time in 10yrs I have no responsibility. I have total freedom to do what I want. So many doors were opened when everything was taken away. I now have the opportunity to really carve out the life I want.

And it starts with a challenge, a walk to be precise. Or maybe a transition from one life to the next.

I have always wanted to do a long distance walk but with my work as a wedding photographer most of my summer is consumed with busy weekends so taking weeks to walk a decent distance just hasn’t been a possibility. Until this summer when Covid took them all away and moved them to next year.

I was going to do the North Coast of Scotland but after talking with my family we decided the South West Coast Path would be better even though it’s 130miles more as I would have support from family in that area.

So I put together a schedule which is pretty tight and picked a start date. Tuesday 21st July I will take my first steps in Minehead and I will complete the 630miles and elevation equivalent to climbing Everest 4 times on the 1st September in Poole.

I move into my new home on the 2nd September in North East London and will be back shooting on the 3rd.

I have to finish on the 1st.

And I will because I am doing this for a very important cause. This walk isn’t just to heal my traumas from emotional abuse and loss, it’s to contribute to the healing of hopefully many other women who have suffered what I have suffered and worse.

I am walking for Women’s Trust. A charity dedicated to giving victims of abuse free counselling and group support. You see I was able to afford to pay for my therapy last year MANY women don’t have that luxury and therapy is where you are given the tools to prevent you winding up in another abusive relationship. It literally saves your life.

I want to make sure I can raise as much as possible to help as many as possible. I have set a goal of £5000 but I hope to surpass that. So if you can please share this blog post and my story you would be helping massively!

Please donate if you can and do follow my walk on my Instagram which you can find HERE I will be posting daily and I will also be photographing the entire walk with prints for sale and hopefully a book later in the year to raise further money for Women’s Trust.

You can see some of the photos I have taken on my training walks below! Thank you so much for your support in advance and for taking the time to read my story.

Let the adventure begin.