DO YOU make sure you do your 10,000 daily steps? Well, how about 30,000?
That’s the challenge a JEP sports reporter and his father have set themselves this month. To walk one million steps each, or roughly 32,500 steps a day in aid of two local charities.
Carl and Elliot Corbel are now almost a week into the immense Million Steps Challenge, which was launched in August as a daring fundraiser for The Grace Crocker Foundation, which supports families with sick children who have to travel for treatment.
The pair aim to raise £10,000 to be split between the charity and the Jersey branch of Samaritans, which offers a confidential 24-hour helpline for those in mental-health crisis.
Having already walked over half a million steps between them, Carl, who was recently appointed as head of fundraising at Samaritans Jersey, said the main reason he wanted to attempt the challenge was to raise awareness of talking about mental health, especially for men.
He said: “Samaritans’ main mandate is to try to help prevent suicide nationally, so we’re doing a big push this year to get out to men in particular. Obviously, our helpline is for men and women, but we want to try to get the message across, particularly to men, that Samaritans are always there to listen.”
Carl, who is a keen walker, said it was “quite a physical challenge” to get that amount of steps in around full-time work.
“You’ve got to make it work. I’m going out at around 6am and then that takes the pressure off the rest of the day. But it’s not easy. It’s definitely not easy. You’re probably walking for about five hours a day.”
He added: “I’ve got a lot of respect for the people who have already done it.”
Having encouraged his son to join him in the challenge, JEP sports reporter Elliot said his father’s work with Samaritans had “inspired” him to give it a go.
“I first heard about this event through my dad. His work with Samaritans has really inspired me and he wanted to take on a challenge to help with their fundraising,” Elliot said.
He continued: “A million steps in a month is a real challenge, but something that dad and I are both fully prepared to take on and give it our best shot.
“It’s going to be a tough slog, both mentally and physically, but we are determined to help bring more awareness to both of these incredible charities and achieve something epic along the way.”
If they complete the challenge, the Corbels will have walked about 1,800km each in March.
Aidan McAvinue, challenge founder and former chairman of The Grace Crocker Foundation, said the monthly challenges had so far raised more than £20,000 for the charity.
He said: “The initiative is wonderful for a host of reasons, walking and talking, awareness, health and fitness and raising funds for great causes.”
Praising the Corbels for their efforts, Mr McAvinue explained that he wanted someone or a team to tackle the fundraiser each month in the future.
He added: “We want this to continue for as long as possible. We have walkers for March and April, and are actively seeking new walkers for the summer months.”
Anyone interested in signing up can contact info@gracecrocker.org.je using the subject Million Steps Challenge.
