Latest news with #SouthDownsWay
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Brighton veteran to take on 100km South Downs Way walk
A blind veteran who is set to walk 100km (62 miles) along the South Downs Way says he wants to do "whatever I possibly can" to give back to a charity which helped to support Parkinson, known as Charlie, said he was looking forward to completing the South Coast Ultra on 6 September in aid of Blind Veterans Parkinson, 48, from Brighton, will set off from Eastbourne alongside a team from the charity, having previously trekked from London to Brighton twice to said: "I'll be indebted to the charity for the rest of my life and will always do whatever I possibly can to give back but that still wouldn't be enough to pay back what they have done for me." Mr Parkinson added: "I was infantry soldier, so I'm used to walking."In 2010, Mr Parkinson began to lose his sight and was diagnosed with glaucoma, something he said pushed him to added that support from the charity helped him to find his Parkinson, alongside others taking on the South Coast Ultra for the charity, took part in a training week in Rustington in June ahead of the South Coast Ultra begins in Eastbourne before heading to Birling Gap, across the South Downs through Southease, Brighton and Steyning, before finishing in Arundel.
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Wiltshire engineer takes on mobility scooter challenge
An engineer who spent his career designing equipment to help disabled people is to travel 100 miles (161km) on a mobility scooter for Adlam, 53, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, was diagnosed last year with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) - a terminal neurological disease - and now uses a will set off later on the South Downs Way to raise money for three disability charities, including Designability, based at Royal United Hospital in Bath."There are lots of people who are going to be around to help support me and make sure we can get the whole way," he said. Whilst working for Designability for 22 years, Mr Adlam designed bicycles for children with dwarfism and seats for children with complex Dystonia, a movement disorder. "Becoming disabled after a career in disability and technology is becoming your own fascinating case study, seen up close in every detail."I am discovering, grieving, adapting, and living each day as it comes." Mr Adlam said he chose the South Downs Way because of its accessibility and beautiful surrounding countryside - where he lived as a child - but also because it would provide a "meaningful challenge to reflect the journey he is on"."We've done some practice runs, some of which have involved a stream crossing and carrying the scooter over a bridge."I don't think we're going to get any big problems, but mentally, it just comes back to what my wife said, 'it's like a fish, just keep on swimming'," he said. Mr Adlam is hoping to raise £5,000 to be shared between Trowbridge-based Stepping Stones District Specialist Centre, the MSA Trust and Stones, which helps pre-school children with additional needs, supported Mr Adlams' family when his son was born 15 weeks premature in 2005. He is due to start the 100-mile challenge in Winchester later and he aims to finish in Eastbourne on 13 July.
