Man to trek 2,000 miles from Horsham to Africa for refugee charity

Many of us have found ourselves walking more since lockdown began, but Scott Moyse is set to take it to the next level by stepping out of his front door in Horsham and walking all the way to Africa.
Scott Moyse from Horsham is set to step out of his front door and walk all the way to Africa to raise funds for Care4Calais SUS-201108-142046001Scott Moyse from Horsham is set to step out of his front door and walk all the way to Africa to raise funds for Care4Calais SUS-201108-142046001
Scott Moyse from Horsham is set to step out of his front door and walk all the way to Africa to raise funds for Care4Calais SUS-201108-142046001

The 25-year-old is planning to walk for around 100 days and trekking a total of more than 2,000 miles, including the entire length of France and Spain, until he reaches the border of Morocco.

He will take on the epic fundraiser in September in aid of Care4Calais which works with refugees living in Calais hoping to cross over to the UK to be able to seek asylum.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “Every year thousands of people risk their lives as they are forced to migrate to Europe.

“They do so mostly through treacherous sea crossings or by traversing heavily fortified land borders.

“Whilst I’ll be making my trip by choice, these refugees are forced relocate to escape the war, persecution or poverty.

“The UK is the start of my journey but an aspirational end point for a number of refugees. Of those heading to Britain, most will have family here or speak the language and believe that if they can arrive and seek asylum they will be able to work and live safely.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Scott will be doing the entire hike completely unaided, sleeping in a tent which will be carried on his back alongside all his other belongings.

He will be forced to catch two ferries – one bringing him into mainland Europe and the other from the Southern Spanish peninsula into Morocco – but the rest of the way will be made on his own two feet.

He said: “Those who know me well will be more than aware that wacky (and, more often than not, stupid) ideas are something of a forte of mine. This time, however, I think I may have just outdone myself.

“For those looking to gain a bit of perspective as to the challenge that lies ahead, imagine trying to walk across the road carrying your bedding, clothes, toiletries, food and water.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Now imagine doing another 585,215 times with a few mountains in the middle and voila, you’re in Africa.

“Showers will be a rarity and blisters will be an inevitability. Needless to say there are about a million things that could go wrong; border closures, getting lost, my dodgy knee giving in, local lockdowns, sickness, lack of access to food and water, bad weather in the Pyrenees, fatigue. The list goes on.”

To arrive into Africa, Scott will be making his way to the South peninsula of Spain and crossing over into Cueta, one of Spains teo overseas territories in Morocco.

These two enclaves, Cueta and Melilla form Europe’s only land borders with Africa.

“For me, these fences will mark my arrival,” said Scott.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“For a number of African refugees seeking to obtain asylum in Europe, they mark one of the most dangerous and relentless parts of their journey.

“These are some of the most fortified boarders in the world. Sub-Saharan African refugees regularly risk their lives trying to scale the fences here.

“The borders are incredibly heavily barricaded; comprised of over four layers of fence, covered in barbed wire, angles, guarded on both sides and fitted with trenches.

“Refugees group nearby and try to make it over by storming the fence in numbers – sometimes a few make it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Those who don’t get over are normally beaten by Moroccan forces, often on their feet and hands to make climbing again more difficult.

“The lucky few who do are often illegally deported back to Morocco before they are allowed to seek asylum.”

In the run up to his expedition – which he hopes to begin on Friday, September 4 – Scott will be posting updates on his blog at https://www.scottrambleson.com/walking-to-africa/

He said: “Exactly what route I’ll be taking is one of the many, many things that will be ironed out in the next few weeks.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There’s a lot to plan as, well, it seems no one has ever been stupid enough to do this before.

“What I can tell you already with some degree of certainty is that Africa is quite far away.

“I’m allowing myself 100 days so I hope to be in Africa by December 13, just in time to make it back to the UK for a lovely Christmas dinner.

“I’ve been fairly generous with time, though I do have to be somewhat cautious as I have very little idea as to what would happen if I was still in Spain as the UK transitions out of the EU.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Here’s hoping I don’t find myself frantically running towards Gibraltar on New Year’s Eve!”

He added: “Please consider supporting my journey by making a donation to Care4Calais. No amount is too small.”

For more information about the charity Care4Calais visit https://care4calais.org/about-us/

__

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.

Related topics: