We were very pleased to support fundraising legend SpeedoMick over the weekend, by putting him up for a night in Llwynbwch Barn.
SpeedoMick (Michael Cullen) is well known for his incredible fundraising efforts wearing his trademark speedos and little else! He’s walking through Wales as part of the ‘Giving Back Tour 2021’ a mammoth five-month, 2000 mile trek across the UK and Ireland, taking him to all five capitals. He’s raising money as well as handing out from his previous fundraising adventures.
What a thoroughly lovely and truly inspriational guy he is, it was a real pleasure to have him stay!
We were contacted by Mick’s PA who was on the hunt for somewhere for him to stay and refuel after walking from Lampeter, before the next day of his trek. A link to his live GPS tracker would give us an idea of when he might appear. Adam & I went with Blue the dog to find him as he made his way towards us. Thanks to patchy mobile signal, confusing lanes and a spot of bad luck, we eventually found him after he’d added a couple of miles detour! We chatted together over an evening meal and introduced Mick to the Exmoor ponies as well as our family.
Mick’s passion for fundraising started in 2014 when he swam the English channel, raising £4000 for a homeless hostel. This was part of a personal journey for Mick, who had a challenging background, suffering from addiction and mental health issues and spending a large part of his life homeless. He has gone on to set up the SpeedoMick Foundation, fundraising for charities who support disadvantaged and homeless young people. To date, the foundation has raised over £650,000. For so many charities, covid and its limitations has made fundraising more difficult, so Mick was keen to pop back on his speedos, swimming hat and goggles and lace up his hiking boots to get stomping again!
After a night’s rest and a big bowl of porridge, Mick gave our dog Blue a big cwtch (funnily enough, Mick’s dog is also called Blue!) before heading off on his stomp towards Cross Hands. It’s amazing what a good bowl of porridge can do for you – he kept on walking all the way on to Swansea! From there he heads to Cardiff, then on to Devon before heading up to the north of England.
Mick is looking forward to a few days rest from his walk soon, as he’s been invited to London’s Palace of Westminster to finally receive his British Citizen Award (he should have received it in July 2020, but due to covid, the award ceremony was delayed).
To find out more about SpeedoMick and the SpeedoMick Foundation and make a donation to this great charity, have a look here https://www.thespeedomickfoundation.org/