Hiizzy co-founder Allan Wood is walking 32,500 steps every day throughout the month of July in support of the Grace Crocker Foundation and offering advice and support to local start-up businesses and entrepreneurs along the way. TOM OGG reports
THOUGHT taking part in the Round Island Walk was challenging? Well, imagine walking it ten times in the space of a single month.
Such is the challenge Allan Wood is undertaking this month with his Million Steps Challenge.
Held in aid of the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, the fundraising walk will see Allan completing 32,500 steps each day throughout the month of July – a total of 1,000,000 steps in total.
“It is a symbolic journey representing the distance from Jersey Hospital to Great Ormond Street Hospital and back,” says the married father-of-three, speaking ahead of the first day of the challenge.
“It really is the equivalent of completing ten Round Island Walks in just one month.”
It was last month when Allan – who is co-founder of national consumer-to-consumer property platform Hiizzy – stepped down from the Grace Crocker Foundation, following “five fulfilling years” as chairman of the charity.
“It has been an honour to serve such a vital cause, one that supports Jersey families during some of their most challenging times,” he says.
“It is to mark this transition that I’ve decided to take on the Million Steps Challenge, which highlights the journey undertaken by hundreds of Jersey families seeking specialist treatment for their children in the UK. While they don’t walk it on foot, the emotional, logistical and financial toll can be just as immense. That’s where the Grace Crocker Foundation, in partnership with our sister charity Family First, steps in, offering practical and emotional support so that families can focus on what truly matters.”
Since it was founded in 2011, the Grace Crocker Foundation has channelled over £1.4 million directly to families in need, with the Million Steps Challenge having already raised over £20,000.
Allan may not be walking alone each day, however, and he is inviting fellow company founders, entrepreneurs and those with start-up businesses (“basically anyone building, launching or thinking about starting something new”) to join him along the way.
The initiative is called Walk the Talk and is described by Allan as “a space for honest talk and two-way mentorship about the highs, lows and lessons of start-up life – only held on foot, rather than in boardrooms.” Co-founded by Allan and his friend Lewis Buckley, Hiizzy enables people to sell their homes directly, without estate agents, and has gained considerable national media attention in, among others, The Telegraph, The Sun and Business Insider. The company has also been shortlisted for a Tech Award by Digital Jersey.
“Hiizzy has been my first time building a start-up,” he says. “And so I know how lonely it can be in the early days. This is a way to support others and to open up a space for real conversation – and all while raising money for a cause that means a lot to me.
“I’m on my own founder journey, so this is as much about listening as it is about talking,” he adds. “I’m looking forward to connecting and learning from people who are starting out, figuring things out, or simply trying to keep going. I can’t wait to get walking, meet some brilliant minds and share the road together.”
Born and raised in Liverpool, Allan moved to Jersey in 1997 and has lived here ever since: “My wife is Jersey-born and we have three Jersey-born children – in fact, we have recently become proud grandparents”.
Discussing the daily route for the Million Steps Challenge, he says: “I imagine there will be lots of early morning walks from La Frégate Café. But I will also be on the north cost some mornings, starting at White Rock. Regardless of the route, it will be around 33,500 steps each day”
Asked if he has done any preparation for the challenge, Allan – a keen walker – laughs and replies: “I have a two-year-old golden cocker spaniel call Poppy so, yes, we like getting out of the house. For the last ten days, I’ve been walking roughly 20,000 steps per day, which is still 13,000 short of my current target.”
The Million Steps Challenge “Walk the Talk” walks will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout July, with a start time of 6.30am, meeting at La Frégate Café in St Helier.
Anyone wishing to join Allan on one of the walks can book their space via calendly.com/allan-wood-hiizzy
One million steps in a month in support of the Grace Crocker Foundation
