Welcome to our Offa's Dyke Challenge website!

On July 25th 2009 we will set off from Prestatyn in North Wales and in 72 hours or less, hope to arrive at Sedbury Cliffs, near Chepstow, at the other end of Offa’s Dyke. We will run, jog, walk and crawl, if necessary, along this old border between England and Wales. The route is 177 miles long and the terrain we will face is particularly challenging, especially when the route takes in parts of the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons. To attempt this in just 3 days will stretch us to our absolute limits, both physically and mentally.

So why have we decided to take on this challenge?

We both have a history of dementia sufferers in our families and we want to raise money and awareness for this cause. Our chosen charity, For Dementia, aims to improve the quality of life for people affected by dementia. They provide high quality training for Admiral nurses who care for those who suffer from dementia (please click on the link on our home page to find out more about For Dementia).

Unfortunately, the number of dementia sufferers is increasing and recently it has started to gain more exposure in the national media. There is no cure for dementia and as the disease progresses, sufferers require more and more care. We feel very strongly about supporting a charity that does so much to support those who help sufferers.

When we started to discuss ideas for a fundraising event, we both agreed that we wanted to do something extremely challenging that would really justify people giving money to our chosen cause. We’re sure that all the hours of hard training (and the blisters and sore joints!) and the gruelling event itself, will be worth it as we aim to raise £10,000 for the charity. We’re setting our sights very high, but we feel that it is for a very worthwhile cause.

The link to our justgiving page is on our homepage. Please give whatever you can – it will be very much appreciated.

We will update the website as regularly as we can to let you know about any events and how our training is going. Also, please feel free to post any messages - your support and/or advice will be greatly welcomed.

Many thanks,

Oli and Sholto.