Eighty years old. One hundred and thirty-eight miles. One very important cause.

On 8 June, I set out on the North Wales Pilgrims Way, ten days of walking from the Dee Estuary to the Llŷn Peninsula, to mark my 80th birthday and to raise funds for something I believe could genuinely save lives.

A life shaped by pilgrimage

For over thirty years, pilgrimage has been at the heart of my life. I have walked hundreds of pilgrim miles, including 680 miles from Iona to Canterbury in just 40 days back in 1997. I have led pilgrimages, founded seven revived routes, including the Two Saints Way from Chester to Lichfield and the six Northern Saints Trails in the North East of England, and I have watched, time and again, as the simple act of walking with intention transforms people from the inside out.

Pilgrimage does something that is very hard to put into words — and yet I have seen it with my own eyes, and felt it in my own body. Pilgrimage heals body, mind and soul.

Why this pilgrimage matters now

We are living through a mental health emergency. Around 89 million antidepressant prescriptions were issued on the NHS last year. Suicide rate, particularly among young men, are rising. The pain in our communities is real, and it is urgent.

This pilgrimage is my response.

The funds raised will seed Walks4Life, a new initiative the Walks4Life collective are developing with GoHealth The Guild of Health and St Raphael), a Christian charity with over 120 years of experience in holistic health and healing. Together, we believe that pilgrimage — walking, community, nature, reflection, and spiritual practice woven together — can offer something genuinely powerful to those who are struggling. Not as a replacement for clinical care, but as a companion to it.

Through your donations, we will organise pilgrimages for people living with depression and anxiety, develop resources for pilgrimage leaders, and build a movement that we hope, in time, will reach many more people across the country.

I am confident this work can save lives. That is not a claim I make lightly. It is what I believe to be true and it is what will motivate me every step of this journey.

A gift to mark turning 80

I enter my eighties, my antiquity, as I like to call it, with gratitude and with purpose. Of all the things I might do to mark this milestone, walking for Walks4Life is the thing that matters most to me. Every mile is an act of hope. Every pound you give is an investment in a flourishing life.

Please give generously. Any amount truly makes a difference.

And if you feel moved to, please share this page with anyone you think might want to walk with us in spirit.

With gratitude,

David Pott

Pilgrim. Educator. Member of the Walks4Life Collective.

Watch David's conversation with GoHealth about the