Ciao!

My name is David, and I'm a primary school teacher from Northampton. For the next three months, I will be hiking from Canterbury, UK, to Rome, Italy; that’s approximately 2000km; 1240 miles; 2,400,000steps!

I’ll set off at the end of July and hike an old pilgrim path, the Via Francigena, from Canterbury to Rome; through the French countryside; the mountains of Switzerland; the mighty Alps; and the rolling hills of Italy; until finally, I reach the Eternal City, Rome, at the beginning of October.

This Easter, I started from Canterbury and made it 170 miles to Laon, France, as a test run; but this summer, I’ll return to Laon and continue the whole route to Rome. Not only will the distance be a challenge, but the heat on the continent, where it has regularly reached 40 degrees Celsius over the last few years.

While I trek this ambitious journey, I'm aiming to raise £1000 to be split equally between two charities. Alzheimer’s Research UK, which powers world-class studies focusing on prevention, diagnosis and treatments for dementia, and supports the nearly 1 million people in the UK living with dementia. While the Albert Kennedy Trust supports young people into safer homes, employment, education, or training.