Jeremy's Supporter Story: Rising to the challenge

“I started supporting Demelza because I wanted to raise money for a children’s charity and take on new challenges. When I came across Demelza, my daughter Valentine was undergoing medical tests, so raising money for a children’s charity like Demelza just made sense.

I’ve done a lot of Demelza’s challenges, including the Peak District and the Isle of White Ultra Challenges, alongside my goddaughter Oceane who helped me to fundraise. I’ve also trekked Machu Picchu and taken on the Firewalk for Demelza, I’ll be doing even more soon – I’m doing the Lake District and Thames Path Ultra Challenges this year, as well as the Skydive in May and the Grate Descent abseil in September!

I’m going to be doing the Thames Path Ultra Challenge with my friend Gianluca, who I met at the 70km mark during the Isle of Wight Ultra Challenge. Gianluca had stopped on route when I came across him, so I gave him a bit of a pep talk, telling him about Demelza and why I was doing the challenge for them, and Gianluca managed to carry on and complete the 100km challenge! He then found me on LinkedIn later to thank me for not letting him give up. We’ve been in touch ever since, and Gianluca is now going to walk the next Thames Path Ultra Challenge for Demelza as well!

The challenges can be very hard, but when it gets difficult, you just have to remind yourself why you’re doing it – for me, it’s for the charity and for my daughter, but for my goddaughter, it was to prove something to herself. Everyone has different reasons. When it gets difficult, accept it, remember all the efforts you did to be at the starting line and carry on until the finish line, you know you’re doing good.

I love everything about the challenges – meeting people, the training, the physical challenge. The challenge itself is a reward. You’ve done the fundraising, you know why you’re doing it, and then you just get to enjoy it!”