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How did two men from London find themselves walking 500 miles in Spain... to support the Hospice in Jersey?
Simon Fanning and Paul Turrell – both recently-retired Londoners – set out on the Camino de Santiago this week, having previously completed the walk from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 2020, and the reverse route in 2021.
“It's important that people realise the importance of giving back to the community,” said Simon, explaining that the duo picked long-distance walks to raise money because “we seem to be quite good at walking”.
Simon and Paul are fundraising to support their friend of 20 years, Mike Palfreman, CEO of Jersey Hospice Care.
Their previous walks were in support of Haven House in 2020, but when Mike became CEO, they split their fundraising between Jersey Hospice Care and ICPCN, a UK-based charity for children’s palliative care.
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Simon and Paul’s long-distance walks have become an annual tradition – they walked almost 900 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 2020, and the reverse route in 2021, traversing the mainland UK on foot and walking up to 70km in one day.
They took a break last year to spend their holidays with their families, but are back this year to take their fundraising adventures abroad to Spain.
Simon and Paul left the starting point at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on Wednesday 26 April and plan on arriving in Santiago de Compostela on 30 May.
They will be joined on Saturday by three more friends and by a larger group – including Jersey Hospice CEO, Mike Palfreman – later along the way.
Pictured from left to right: Simon Fanning, Paul Turrell and Mike Palfreman reaching Land's End in 2020.
Although he admitted that the route has been tough so far, Simon said: “It's such a nice place, and one of the reasons to visit is not just the fundraising but to be able to see things that you wouldn’t see if you were in the car.”
The pair have also met pilgrims from different nationalities – German, Spanish, French and Italian.
“It’s not about us,” said Simon. “It’s about the hospice and bringing awareness because they need cash.”
To keep up-to-date with Simon and Paul’s adventures, you can follow Simon’s blog.
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