Sam to hike, cycle and kayak series of rivers over five years
A WORCESTER man is taking on a grand series of challenges to support the charity which has helped his family.
Sam Perrett's wife Nikki, 37, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system, in January 2023.
Since then the MS Society has been 'invaluable' to the couple and their two young daughters so Sam has decided to raise as much money as possible by tackling Source2Sea.
It is a series of five solo adventure challenges over the next five years, starting with 368 kilometres of the River Severn in September going from the source to the sea via a combination of hiking, cycling and kayaking.
Sam, 35, said: 'The diagnosis hit us hard as a family, not really knowing what it meant for the future for Nikki's health and what kind of deterioration we might see over what time period.
'It drove me into a health and fitness kick to make sure I'm as healthy as I possibly can be and I am around for as long as possible for our two young daughters.
'I've always loved the outdoors and I am the adventurous type having hiked a lot of the American south and mid-west.
'Six months ago I started a complete change to my lifestyle with exercise, fitness and diet.
'At this point I needed a goal, something to aim for, to keep me going and so Source2Sea was born.
'It is a series of five solo adventure challenges — planned and routed by me, not existing — over the next five years.
'Each challenge is to complete a journey from the source of a river all the way through to the sea.
'Using a combination of hiking, cycling and kayaking, each of the successive journeys get longer.'
Sam's plans so far involve the Severn mission, starting on September 21 from the Cambrian Mountains in Wales to Portishead, followed by the River Rhône in France and Switzerland covering 825km in September 2026.
He is targeting the River Tagus in Spain and Portugal over around 1,100km in 2027, the River Rhine over about 1,380km from Switzerland to the Netherlands in 2028 and possibly the Mississippi in the USA in year five.
Sam continued: 'This is not only as a goal to myself to keep me on point but also to raise vital awareness and fundraising for the MS Society.
'It is an incredible charity whose resources and support have been invaluable to us during this time. The more money raised the better.
'I also plan to fully document this training and completing the journeys on socials and YouTube.'
More than £1,000 has been raised so far at www.justgiving.com/page/source2sea.
There are more details on Sam's challenge at source2sea.uk and across social media on Facebook and Instagram.
To get in touch email info@source2sea.uk.
The MS Society funds world-leading research, shares the latest information and campaigns for everyone's rights.
There are more details at www.mssociety.org.uk.
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