About My Mission
Jeremy Beartham here, intrepid adventurer with an insatiable curiosity inherited from my namesake. I have a great expedition planned, and I need your help to achieve it. I will be walking all across the world, setting off from Bidborough House at 1pm on Wednesday 15 January, powered entirely by your steps.
What am I doing?
I will be starting my expedition by travelling through Europe, via Paris, Berlin and Vaduz to name but a few destinations. Following this I will travel through Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, and the Americas before coming back through Asia and Europe to the Portico at UCL.
This will of course equal several hundred thousand (if not millions!) of steps across deserts, through jungles, around cities and even across the ocean (a good thing bears can swim).
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Why am I doing this?
My namesake once said:
‘Create all the happiness you are able to create,
remove all the misery you are able to remove.’
My reasons, therefore, are twofold. One is that walking is a very beneficial pastime, which has been proven to:
• Improve mood, self perception and self-esteem
• Improve sleep quality and cognitive function
• Reduce stress, anxiety, fatigue
and the risk of depression
• Keeps you fit!
My other reason is to apply the spirit of Jeremy to a modern-day problem. The climate is getting more extreme, and hardly a week goes by that I don’t read an article predicting the imminent end of the world. But I seem to hear very little about what people are doing in
response, even though I’ve heard on the grapevine there’s some fantastic initiatives taking place around the world. So I’m going to do what Jeremy would do: I’m going to find out, by walking across the globe from country to country, what positive and innovative solutions have been set up. I’ll be reporting back from the field reasons we should look to the future with optimism rather than pessimism, and how individuals can make a difference
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How can you help?
I need OVPA to power me on this journey. I’ve convinced a number of colleagues to act as team champions and will be asking (should you want to take part) for the number
of steps you’ve walked each Friday. These will be totalled and every month I’ll be able to report back on how far you’ve moved me and what I’ve seen.
What’s in it for you?
Aside from physical and mental health benefits, and finishing with a more positive outlook on the course the world is taking, we will be raising glasses together to celebrate my return when the day comes around. I will also be sharing interesting trivia about the countries I pass through, and at the end of each month I will ask the Green Team to set up a small space in the office celebrating these countries - and encouraging them to bring in baked
goods!
So please lace up your walking boots and join me on this epic journey, which will take us from the jungles of the Amazon to the snowy plains of Antartica and beyond.
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With love,
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Jeremy Beartham
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