Jon Phillips biography

About me

OK, Wales has some serious hills, but not my bit down South. Barry may be made up of hills, but they are not the stuff that serious hills are made of. Anyway, I haven’t lived there for over 10 years and even my kids – Calum and Liam (now see where the Company name came from?) - sound like they are from Biggleswade.

I don’t do hills anyway, that’s why cars were invented. Exercise is usually linked to walking to the pub, the odd (very odd) trip to the gym and walking the dog with Jenny and she can’t walk too far due to age – the dog that is. In fact, Jen’s new career in nursing may be really valuable in the coming months with the training and the recovery I need.

I never thought I’d do anything like this. The Himalayas may just as well have been on the moon to me. Walking in them was something else again. Still listening to Springsteen after all these years and with a passion for the finer things in life such as armchair rugby, reading history (probably more now than I did for the degree) and Brains beer, taking on a charity event was highly unlikely.

Then I heard about the Princes Trust and how this Trek would help raise the funds desperately needed to help support young people into work. I need to raise £3,000 and any and all donations are really appreciated as they all help. The money will go to help change others’ lives for the better and forever.

Is this the ‘mid life crisis’ as I approach the big 5-0. Probably.

Have I done anything for a charity before? No.

Am I fit enough? Definitely not.

How far or for how long have I walked before? Maybe 11 miles in 4 hours.

Am I nervous about it? Absolutely.

Can I get Brains beer in Nepal? Doubt it, but that’s no different to Biggleswade I guess.

So it’s plenty of walking to help get the weight off and have to use the treadmill to try and replicate the hills which are seriously in short supply around here.