Stroke survivor Richard Walking the Wight his way

An Island man, who’s recovering from two ‘life-changing’ strokes, is taking on Mountbatten’s virtual ‘Walk the Wight Your Way’ 2021 challenge in a bid to raise £10,000.

Richard Younie, 60, from Ryde was inspired by Captain Tom and is walking 92 laps of his road to clock up his miles. He started the challenge last Saturday (February 6) and will complete a lap a day until the day of Walk the Wight on 9 May.

“I am doing this in memory of my younger brother, Andrew. Mountbatten not only cared for him, but they looked after his children fantastically,” said Richard. He had two young children and Mountbatten gave them counselling to prepare them for the death of their dad and supported them afterwards.
“Mountbatten is not just a place where people to go to die; they do so much more.

“Walk the Wight is their biggest fundraising event. Due to my health, I can’t do it all in one go, but with the option of ‘Walk the Wight Your Way’ I can still take part. I would welcome any donations to my fundraising page.”

Organizers are hopeful that this year’s flagship event, Walk the Wight, will take place in some form on 9 May. Nigel Hartley, Mountbatten’s CEO, said: “We are hugely grateful for the support of people like Richard, now more than ever in these very challenging times. Not only does this lift everyone’s spirits, but it helps raise much needed funds after a loss of £1 million in 2020, due to our shops being closed and fundraising events cancelled in the pandemic.

“Without the extraordinary fundraising support from our Island community, we simply would not be able to continue to provide care for patients and families dealing with death, dying and bereavement on the Isle of Wight – thank you to everyone who supports us even at a time when they may not have much money themselves.”
You can support Richard’s efforts at justgiving.com/fundraising/rick-younie. His daily walks are also being posted to his Richard Younie You Tube channel.

To sign up and register to take part in this year’s ‘Walk the Wight’ or ‘Walk the Wight Your Way’ visit mountbatten.org.uk/register-to-walk-the-wight.