Follow your dreams

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Teesside Hospice Chairman, Brian Footitt OBE, walked 150km of the Camino de Santiago to raise vital funds and awareness for Teesside Hospice.

Teesside Hospice offers palliative care for local people over the age of 18 who are living with a life-limiting illness when a cure is no longer possible. Their care is provided free of charge 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year and reaches thousands of local people.

Brian, has taken on various challenges in support of Teesside Hospice, including the largest zip wire in Europe to celebrate his 70^th birthday! His latest challenge, inspired by BBC TV series ‘Pilgrimage – The Road to Santiago’ saw Brian set off with a group of 15 strangers, some from as far as Canada, on a 150km walk over 5 days in Northern Spain finishing at the Cathedral of Santiago. The walk is undertaken by pilgrims and others for lots of different reasons, Brian set off on his journey with 3 main motivators:

“I wanted to take on the challenge for Teesside Hospice, first of all to raise awareness of the Hospice and the wonderful work done there. Second to help raise vital funds, and third to encourage everyone, young or not so young that anything is possible, so follow your dreams!”

“Having spent many years visiting Southern Spain where it is by and large very flat, it was refreshing to walk through lush Forrest’s and valleys. An abiding memory will be the smell of the eucalyptus plantations along the way. Although I did not start the walk as a pilgrim, listening to the many stories along the way and meeting so many pilgrims, I realised that as well as feeling the achievement of completing the walk, I also felt spiritually recharged and perhaps without realising it, I had become a pilgrim along the way.”

When Brian and his group reached their final destination in the square outside Cathedral of Santiago they were cheered on by other pilgrims, with Brian describing his huge sense of achievement and spiritual well-being.

“I look at the pilgrims Passport that I had to get stamped every day along the walk and the certificate of confirmation issued by the cathedral and think, what’s the next challenge?”

If you are feeling inspired by Brian, please visit Get Involved to see how you can help Teesside Hospice!

To find out more about joining our Board of Trustees please click here.