Being a freelance adventurer with Levison Wood (Walking With The Wounded)

Freelance Feels: Conversations about self-employed life

A freelance adventurer?! Yes, you heard that right!

You may recognise Levison Wood from his documentaries about walking such as Walking the Nile. He's supporting charity Walking with the Wounded and spoke to Freelance Feels about his own freelance work, the mental health benefits of walking and the parallels between freelancing and exploring.

Walking With The Wounded

Walking With The Wounded ‘WWTW’ deliver employment, mental health, care coordination and volunteering programmes in collaboration with the NHS to get those who served, and their families, whether mentally, socially or physically wounded, back on their feet and making a positive contribution once more. Why? Because those who served, deserve.

Walking Home For Christmas

This winter, thousands of people will be Walking Home For Christmas in support of armed forces veterans across the country.

The campaign, which runs from 9 to 20 December, is Walking With The Wounded’s annual nationwide fundraising walking challenge to support its work across mental health, employment, volunteering and care coordination.

An estimated 5 million veterans live in the UK. While most of the 15,000+ personnel who leave the forces each year have a successful transition to civilian life, a small but significant minority do not. Walking With The Wounded supports those who served, and their families, to thrive.

There are three key aspects to this year’s Walking Home For Christmas campaign:

1. #WalkWithAndy Andy, a former military police officer, will be walking 350 kilometres from the Cenotaph in London to Manchester Cenotaph. He aims to complete this extraordinary challenge in just five days, leaving London on 5 December and arriving in Manchester on 9 December.

1. Organised regional walks New for 2022, Walking With The Wounded has organised regional walks in London, Manchester, and Newcastle on the 9 December. Participants can raise vital funds – and their heart rate – at one of these fun large-scale events. Everyone is welcome.

1. Walk your own way Participants can complete their own fundraising walk - of any distance and at a location of their choosing - between 9 and 20 December. Some participants opt to walk their children home from school, others walk between offices with colleagues, and there are those who undertake a walk in memory of someone special or between locations that mean something to them.

www.walkinghomeforchristmas.com

Research

• Research from the charity finds that fewer than 1 in 3 (29%) of the UK adult population walk every day in winter – and astonishingly 10% never go for a walk. But when it comes to improving health and wellbeing, 68% would consider trying to go on a regular walk - compared to 1 in 10 (11%) interested in group fitness classes and 1 in 5 (22%) who would think about joining a gym.

#walkingwiththewounded #walkingformentalhealth #freelancing #selfemployed #levisonwood #levwood #walkingthenile #walkinghomeforchristmas