“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

Throughout my life I have faced challenges, planned and unpanned, that honestly, I was not particularly sure would work out. Embarking on these challenges was often a triumph of hope over experience. From working in challenging environments, to starting a company, or getting involved with ultra-mountain running events in my forties and more recently starting a social enterprise there has been one constant. That constant has been the power of a good idea underpinned by the generosity of strangers leading to friendship and community. It is fair to say that I failed on occasion but where I did achieve a modicum of success it was most assuredly due to the support of others, often people I met only after I stepped out on the journey. The overarching lessons from these experiences are that truly meaningful endeavours are worth the attempt whatever occurs, trust people and believe in creating serendipity (making yourself and others lucky). I’ve benefited innumerably from this philosophy and only been significantly let down once by it, and even that in the long run was resolved by further application of the philosophy.

As the founder of @positive steps outdoors, a social enterprise connecting people to the outdoors and each other to promote positive mental health, I was supported and encouraged through the generosity of @chriss ross (from @mckees) and @roger warnock (CEO of @young social innovators). Those initial introductions developed into a friendship that has generated the good idea to support positive mental health within young people on the island of Ireland and to enable them to drive social innovation through their own youth led solutions to social issues (@roger Warnock takes the credit here). Chris, Roger and I hope to harness the power of community to raise funds to support young people through sponsorship of our, perhaps foolhardy, attempt to run the Cape Wrath Ultra race in May 24. This race is 400 kilometres long, involves 10,000 m of climb and takes place over eight days through the remotest parts of Northwest Scotland. There is no guarantee of success with two out of three attempts failing. 

What really excites me about this opportunity is the unknown. There are the obvious unknows, namely, can the ‘three amigos’, perhaps a little bit past their physical prime and with a lot of other pressures, keep to the necessary training regime to get ready for the event and remain injury free; on the event can each sustain the pace and mental rigour required to cover the distance inside the cut-off times over eight consecutive days; can we manage the navigation and administration required and cope with the weather, bogs, streams and famous midges; how well will we work as a team; and, will people actually back us or simply think us crazy (adopting both attitudes is fine by the way). 

We know, through evidence, the generosity of others in supporting young people changes lives and improves communities. So, the ‘unknown’ that excites me the most is precisely how this will be realised because of this initiative. There are young people out there who we do not yet know that stand to have improved mental health because of the support of strangers. The benefits of that improved mental health will be seen in their lives and in the lives of their families and friends into the generations. That enhanced sense of wellbeing will mean those young people will opt to dare greatly in worthy causes, making real the ideas, yet unknown, they have for improving the fabric of their communities through social innovation. Those ideas, with the support of @young social innovators, will be well placed to succeed through this fundraising, meaning communities yet unknow will benefit, creating opportunities for serendipity to play out into the (unknow) future. Just as with the Cape Wrath Ultra the success of young people as they ‘dare greatly’ in their ‘worthy causes’ may not be 100% guaranteed but that’s the case with all challenges worth doing. However, the generosity of strangers coupled with the power of community will greatly improve the odds. In the end not starting at all is the only option with an assured and knowable outcome for these young people. 

So, here is your chance to ‘dare greatly’ alongside us and the young people. Sponsor the ‘three amigos’ as an individual or a company using our Just Giving page. Yes, the outcome is unknown but that is what makes it exhilarating and, in any case, as life has taught me, I believe you should be prepared to be excited and rewarded by what unfolds, known or not, as result of your generosity.

By supporting this initiative, you and the people you care about (staff, clients etc) can also get directly involved, for example volunteering on programmes for young people you have helped fund, providing ‘mental health’ focused hikes for your staff or simply joining us on a training run some morning.