Director Ed Gowan has surpassed his £5,000 target by walking 111 miles around Guernsey, Alderney Sark and Herm.

He completed the feat over four days, starting last Wednesday and completing the epic challenge on Saturday evening. The current total raised stands at £5,413.

‘It’s absolutely wonderful to have surpassed our fundraising goal. Completing the challenge was extremely hard, but the support of family, friends, and the wider public made it easier to keep going.  Many people encouraged me when they saw me walking the islands – and it’s great that this was reflected in all of the generous donations,’ said Ed.

Philip Smith, CBO’s CEO, said Ed should be very proud of what he has achieved, both with the walk and by raising such a fantastic amount of money for a great local charity.

‘This challenge started with some joke remarks on a call during lockdown and then snowballed into something quote special. It has been a privilege to have the team at CBO support Ed during his training and the challenge itself,’ said Philip.

Ed and his friend Jonathan on their way to the Alderney leg

Ed began training for the gruelling challenge in January, doing a combination of early morning cliff walks and longer cliff walks at the weekends. The aim was to raise £5,000 for the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation, which was a lifeline for his friend’s family last year.

Aggie’s Burrow and Isaac’s Pad, which are right next to Southampton General Hospital, provide a comfortable, private safe-haven and help keep families together when their child is receiving vital care at the hospital. The PPBF’s challenge is to continually raise the required funds for the annual £30,000 running costs needed to keep the two flats maintained and always open for local families in need.

Ed has always been a keen hiker and has done the round-Guernsey walk every time it’s been run, since he came to Guernsey in 2014. He has walked the Offas Dyke walk (south to north coast of Wales), Hadrian’s Wall, and a number of 3-5 day routes across the UK. Further afield, he’s hiked in the Himalayas and Andes, and around Lake Baikal in Siberia.

He added: ‘Walking 111 miles in 4 days was tougher than any hike I’d done before. The hardest day was, without doubt, the first – covering 48 miles in total, with 26 of them being on Guernsey’s cliffs.  The support we received, and the stunning scenery on each island, more than made up for the physical pain, however!’

To make a donation towards Ed’s charitable challenge, please go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fiveislandswalk