My Wheelpower challenge from John O'Groats to Land's End

Community_Scope

Posted on behalf of Adam Stanton-Wharmby.

Hello,

My name is Adam Stanton-Wharmby and I have cerebral palsy, which in my case means I am unable to walk and have no use of my left arm. 

Since 2017 I've been raising money for a number of charities and raising awareness of accessibility by completing a series of wheelchair marathon challenges (Wheel Power Challenges) where I have driven my wheelchair from city to city in the UK. Previous challenges have included the London Marathon route, Birmingham to Manchester and Cheltenham to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, following the national cycle routes.

During the pandemic my wheel power challenges were postponed, but with restrictions lifting I am ready for my next and biggest marathon yet: Lands’ End to John O'Groats (#JOGLE). My total trip should be completed in approximately 22 days and is currently planned to start on 21 March 2023.

I don’t only do these marathons to raise money for charity, but to raise awareness of the challenges of accessibility, such as campaigning for Google to include wheelchair accessible routes. Since then they have included accessible routes for three cities including London. I also love the sense of adventure that comes from travelling across the country, going along cycling routes from city to city.

For this specific challenge I have also had my chair upgraded by some very special engineers. During my last challenge from Cheltenham to Silverstone, a Formula One charity, Grid4Good got in touch with the Mercedes Formula One Team who then offered to modify my wheelchair to help me to complete my next route. This is the first ever wheelchair to be worked on in this way by a Formula One Team. I am now the excited and proud owner of a purpose made-to-measure wheelchair.

This challenge is the biggest one yet and will have me on the road for nearly a month. As such, the logistics are more complicated and the costs are much higher than my previous marathons, but I am determined to succeed. I have been prepping by doing park runs in my modified chair and also committing to a fitness and healthy eating regime.

My question is whether you know of any volunteers/drivers that would be interested in supporting me by kindly donating their time for all or part of the challenge and driving the motorhome I have hired? Their expenses would be covered including meals. They would need a C1 driving license and details of the vehicle can be found here:

https://accessibleholidayescapes.co.uk/escapes/imagine-accessible-motorhome/

The plan so far is to set off to Scotland on the 21st March 2023 picking up the motorhome from Swindon. I start the challenge on the 23 March, and return around the end of April 21st.  Link to my route is here https://goo.gl/maps/fqKsdv72wrjvcY33A.

Without the amazing volunteers and support I have received over the years I wouldn’t have been able to do these challenges. Any support for this worthy cause, including any advice or promotion would be so appreciated.

I intend to do more interviews and promotions over the next few weeks and months including on my Instagram account (@challenge.adam) and twitter (@challengeadam83)and would absolutely love to shout about your help and support.

People would describe me as a happy, positive, motivated person giving 100% to what I commit to, I cannot wait to start this challenge and hopefully beat the record!

Thank you for your time,

Many thanks,

Adam

Community_Scope

The above post has been moderated and checked by the Scope Community Team. 

Our website contains links to third parties’ websites for your information only. We have no control over the content of those sites or resources and we don’t endorse or accept liability for the content of them.