Oct 83 min read

Veterinary Voices Hiking Group set to raise £15,000 for Vetlife Charity as they put one front in front of the other and complete the Ullswater Way Challenge!

The Veterinary Voices Hiking Group, co-founded by Robyn Lowe and Paul Horwood, have kickstarted the Vetlife #ActiveOctober by leading a group of incredible fundraisers around the 32 KM Ullswater Way Challenge on Saturday the 5th of October.

Over the course of 2024, the Veterinary Voices Hiking Group has been supported by PetsApp and Norbrook to empower the community in getting into the great outdoors. In their 2023 London Vet Show Community Mastermind session, Paul and Robyn recognised that a barrier to exploring was confidence, and decided that 2024 was the year to change that. With the help and support of PetsApp and Norbrook, the Veterinary Voices Hiking Group were able to host a Trauma Awareness course, supplying a Basic Life Support Certificate, in the Lake District. They saw a team use simulations on the hills to help show how challenging supplying first aid to a casualty can be in remote conditions. As an extra hair-raising experience, the team also took this time to traverse the Grade 1 Scramble, Sharp Edge on Blencathra, in order to allow the group to be guided across a more challenging route. Robyn and Paul also hosted a ‘Navigation Event’ in the Brecon Beacons where Paul, a veterinary surgeon and ex Marine, covered the basic theory of navigation and compass work. Robyn and Paul then took the group out to lead sections of the route while also walking off a bearing, learning to pace, read contours and gain practical experience of map and compass work.

As a wonderful finale to the year the team, consisting of veterinary and non-veterinary members, started the day early at 6.30am by the tranquil waters edge at Pooley Bridge, before hiking around the beautiful lake Ullswater. Duggan Veterinary supported the team with Vetlife hats, to keep them warm as the sun began to rise and the beautiful October sun fell on the group. They spent the next 10 hours hiking the route, making sure to stop to meet another inspirational fundraising team who happened to be passing the area at the same time. Maria Mylne, Mary Hall, Chris Burn and Callum McRoberts had set off from Lands End on September 23rd cycling and ending in John O'Groats in memory of Kirsty, their colleague and partner who died by suicide. They are aiming to turn their grief into something positive by helping others who may be struggling with their mental health or contemplating suicide, whilst raising much-needed funds for two charities, Vetlife and The Canmore Trust.

With the support of all the Ullswater Way team, including Vetlife President James Russell and trustees Robyn Lowe, Paul Horwood and Liz Barton, who all aimed to raise vital funds for the charity Vetlife the event is set to raise an incredible £15,000! Vetlife aims to provide support to members of the UK veterinary community and their families who have emotional, health or financial concerns, whilst seeking ways to prevent such situations in the future. The individual members aimed to fundraise and spread awareness for the vital work Vetlife does, asking for donations for their challenge. These inspirational members have, to date, raised over £4600. Furthermore, Linnaeus and IVC both agreed to match the fundraising up to the total of £5000 in a bid to triple the efforts of the Veterinary Voices Hiking Group!

This incredible event tips the total raised by the Veterinary Voices Hiking Group to over £29,000 for Vetlife! However, the impact is far reaching, with the Veterinary Voices Hiking Group aiming to get the profession outdoors for their physical and mental health, to aid in building new connections and friendships and opening new support and friendship networks across the UK.