Leukaemia patient Julian Goode is embarking on a 500-mile six-week sponsored walk across all four countries of the UK to raise money for charities that have helped him in his battle with blood cancer.
Brentwood-based Julian, 56, will set off on October 5 to walk coast-to-coast across Wales, Northern Ireland, England and finally Scotland, aiming to complete his challenge – which he’s called A Really Goode Walk – by mid-November, and raise at least £10,000 in the process for Barts Charity and Anthony Nolan.
Diagnosed with Leukaemia in May 2019, he has been under the care of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London ever since, starting with three rounds of chemotherapy that summer. And he then received a stem cell transplant that November, with an anonymous donor having been found via the Anthony Nolan donor registry.
“It’s not too dramatic to say that without the amazing care I’ve received from the doctors, nurses and all the staff at Barts over the past three years, plus the donor found by Anthony Nolan, I wouldn’t be here now,” said Julian.
“I can never thank them enough. But this is one thing I can do, both to start to pay them back a bit; and put in place some funds to help those that come after me to also receive the same amazing treatment and care as I have done.
“I originally came up with the idea of doing a sponsored walk way back in summer 2019 when I was in Barts during chemotherapy. Having thought up the concept of a coast-to-coast walk four times in the different countries of the UK, it was just a question of pinning down the exact routes and planning it.
“The pandemic rather got in the way during the past two years, until I was finally able to schedule it for this autumn. And then Covid reared its ugly head again as, despite doing everything to avoid it since 2020, I went down with it in mid-September. That was far from ideal as I was trying to get fully ‘backpacking fit’ in the last couple of weeks before departure.
“But I’m determined not to give in, to get past that, and to press on and be ready to go on Day One of the first leg from Chepstow on October 5,” added Julian, who started up as a walk leader with his new venture Goode Walks in spring this year, after becoming a Mountain Training-qualified Lowland Leader.
A Really Goode Walk will see Julian backpack 177 miles from Chepstow to Prestatyn along the Offa’s Dyke Path from south to north Wales. He’ll then travel via Dublin to reach Northern Ireland and walk from Kilkeel to Londonderry, 100 miles south east to north west across the country.
Heading over to England, his third leg will be on the Hadrian’s Wall Path, 89 miles from Bowness-on-Solway to Wallsend, and then to the coast at Tynemouth. Moving north to Scotland, the final leg is 134 miles on the John Muir Way, from Dunbar on the North Sea to Helensburgh on the west coast.
“I can’t see that anyone else has done anything quite like this,” explained Julian. “It sounded like a fun adventure and the necessary amount of challenge to make the fundraising worthwhile. I’m hoping that lots of friends and family, and walkers in general, will come out and join me and help make A Really Goode Walk something really special.”
You can find full details of Julian’s itinerary and more background on A Really Goode Walk on his website at: https://goodewalks.co.uk/a-really-goode-walk/
Donations to Barts Charity and Anthony Nolan can be made via his fundraising page at: https://www.justgiving.com/team/AReallyGoodeWalk
