Jamie and Dave go the extra mile for charity

Jamie Wilkinson and David Gamble from One 2 One Fitness NI are completing 1 million steps over 40 days to help raise much needed funds for Emerge Counselling Services, based in Lisburn.

“Instead of ‘giving up’ for lent Dave and I decided we wanted to ‘give back’ and what better charity to support than Emerge in Lisburn, a local suicide and self-harm prevention counselling centre,” explained Jamie.

A million steps is 25,000 every day for 40 days. It is the equivalent of four hours of continual walking and covers over 21km in walking distance.

“By the end of these 40 days we will have walked over 800km in rain, frost, wind that has nearly knocked us off our feet and whatever else the great Northern Irish weather has thrown our way,” continued Jamie.

“To give that some perspective it’s like walking from the highest point in Northern Ireland to the most southern point in Cork, and even then, we would still have plenty of distance to cover.

“We are now over halfway and have raised over £1,600, but the most remarkable part of this whole charity walk was hearing that our posts and updates gave two people the courage to get in contact with Emerge.

“I’m usually a man of many words but after hearing that I was left speechless and very emotional.

“The sad thing is for the two people who got in contact there are still many out there who need support and have no idea that there is somewhere to turn. Emerge are entirely self-funded and need our help.

“People are struggling more than ever and need to know that Emerge is there to talk, support and help them. If you are reading this and need to talk, please give them a ring on 028 9244 5060.”

If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, visit https://gofund.me/f07d516b