“Life is an adventure – you have to make the most of it…”
So says friend of Splash, Paul Nelson, who is about to embark on a five-day 100km trek across the Sahara Desert for Alzheimer’s Research UK, in memory of his father-in-law.
“I love the adrenaline rush of doing something that really pushes you to the limit, and when the opportunity arose to raise money for such a good cause, I jumped at the chance,” said the 53-year-old.
Paul swapped his maths teaching career for what turned into 20 years in the Royal Navy. The Lieutenant Commander was Head of Joint Training at the Defence Diving School in Portsmouth, where he lives with his family. These days he’s a Client Director for global skills development company, City & Guilds.
On Sunday 19 March, Paul and his teammates begin their trek which will take them through a forbidding landscape punctuated by peaks, gorges, dunes and oases, at night, sleeping out under the stars.
We recently launched our Adventure with Purpose concept, which we developed to throw our net wider and throw our weight behind individuals and not-for-profit organisations which are embarking on purposeful adventures, like Paul.
Paul’s Sahara Trek challenge comes off the back of his successful completion of the South Downs 100km Ultramarathon last year, in which he also raised funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK which works to find a cure for this “dreadful disease”.
“We were directly affected when my father-in-law became ill,” Paul said. “Ultimately it was dementia that led to his death at a time when he and my mother-in-law were hoping to enjoy their retirement together. This is sadly a disease which affects a lot of people so hopefully the funds raised through this challenge will make a difference.”
Pledge your support for Paul here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paulnelsontreksahara