After the success of 'Tall Order' last August https://www.justgiving.com/account/your-pages/TallOrderDanMatt which raised a whopping £440 to help young people with learning disabilities, I'm following it up this August with 'Go With The Flow' or if you prefer, 'Bridge to Bridge'.

The long and short of it (literally as its in 2 stints of different distances) is that over Friday 5th and Saturday 6th August, I will in whatever weather I'm presented with be walking from Uxbridge to Tower Bridge along the Grand Union Canal to Kew/Brentford (where rumour has it I'll dare to take an overnight break... ...don't listen to rumours though) and then along the Thames Path to Tower Bridge. I will be walking a distance of approximately 27 miles - 12 miles from Uxbridge to Kew/Brentford and then 15 miles (with all the meandering) to Tower Bridge. I'll be walking with the flow of the Thames, hence 'Go With The Flow'.

So why am I doing this besides an attempt to drop a kilo or 3? The answer is to raise money for Ditch the Label, an admirable anti-bullying charity. I will therefore avoid generating unfortunate irony by pestering people for sponsorship, but anything you could spare would be very welcome! I have only been a teacher for a relatively short while but I have already had to deal with cases of bullying as a tutor. Much of my own time/experience at school was plagued by the suffering of bullying and I am fortunate to have come through this stronger but gosh how it can damage one's confidence and self-esteem levels to an immeasurable extent. My dear mates Matt and Rik were great co-participants of Tall Order but I'm proud to be doing this pursuit all by myself as its something I would have once never been able to do heavily due to the impact of bullying and I want to help others feel they can 'go with the flow' of their life and the working towards their goals and values without a) the fear or trauma of bullying OR b) the need to have to become a bully. Let's help to build 'bridges' towards a world free of bullying!