In August 2009, Christopher Schrader, now a student of Li Po Chun UWC, and his best friend Charles Waite-Roberts embarked on an incredible journey, traversing 600 kilometres off the southern coast of England, from Land’s End to Pangbourne, in 13 days. The idea was borne out of a desire to test the limits of their own endurance, but the duo quickly realized that they could turn this into a significant fundraising event. What began as a crazy scheme knocked up in the heads of two teenagers then grew into something much larger than they imagined; a trial of perseverance and determination fueled by passion to support two very worthwhile charities.
When it became clear that they would be able to raise substantial amounts of money through the event, Christopher and Charles chose two charities that they felt very passionate about. The Cystic Fibrosis Trust works tirelessly to raise funds for research into CF, one of the UK’s most common life-threatening diseases – around 1 in 25 people in the UK bear the risk of being affected by CF. Although medicine exists to delay the effects of this debilitating disease, there is no known cure yet. The Trust hopes to find that cure for the millions that suffer and the families of those who have suffered, including Charles’ godsister. The Joshua Hellmann Foundation for Orphan Disease, set up in memory of Christopher’s childhood friend, is an organization that works towards providing information and support to orphan disease patients and medical specialists. An orphan disease is one that has been “orphaned” by the medical and pharmaceutical industries in terms of diagnosis, research and development of treatments due to its rarity, leaving patients of such diseases, their families and their friends in darkness. Christopher and Charles successfully raised £3500 (around HK$40 000) for each charity. The key force behind Walking With A Purpose that makes it so viable is that Christopher and Charles, through their feats of endurance, have found a way to show how much they really do care about these causes, showing a passion that inspires others to contribute to them as well.
With the success of the Land’s End to Pangbourne journey, the duo decided to take the idea and make it something bigger than just the two of them. They set up Walking With A Purpose, a foundation through which they could carry out similar events to fund charities, and to let other like-minded youth realize their potential in support of good causes. Some such future events are already in planning stages. Christopher is also working with students and staff member Dave McCracken in LPC to create a 24-hour race involving several schools from around Hong Kong, as well as a possible UWC Fair to follow that event.
In 2010, Christopher and Charles are bringing Walking With a Purpose to Hong Kong in the form of the 2010 Hong Kong Challenge. They plan to cover 150 kilometres, from the college campus to Stanley at the southern tip of Hong Kong Island by ocean rowing, open-water swimming and running – all within 24 hours. The event will start on Friday, 9 April, at the LPC campus, where they will begin with a two-kilometre swim across the sea, then joining the Wilson trail where they will head south towards Hong Kong Island. Upon reaching Victoria Harbour, they will row to Pok Fu Lam, and then run the entire Hong Kong Trail. The last stage of the event will be a swim from Stanley to Middle Island. A route map to this article can be found here (ADD LINK). The duo is also looking for people who are keen to join them in certain stages of the race. Once again, the money raised from this event will go the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the Joshua Hellmann Foundation.
With Walking With A Purpose, Christopher and Charles are doing what they do best for causes that need their support. They show us that each and every one of us can do our part in our own way to help out in the bigger picture – in their case, it is by pushing mental boundaries and breaking physical limits.
Information on how to get involved and how to participate in future Walking With A Purpose events including the Hong Kong 2010 Challenge can be found at http://www.christopherandcharles.com/.
This page was last updated on February 18, 2010.
