Sports commentator to hand out prosecco on John O'Groats to Land's End charity trek
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A sports commentator will be toasting absent friends by handing out free prosecco on a charity trek from John O'Groats to Land's End in June.
Rob Walker plans to celebrate the lives of four close friends who passed away within the past 18 months with random acts of kindness during his 1189-mile journey on foot and by bike.
He is due to set off from John O'Groats on Monday, June 5, taking a route through Bettyhill and Bonar Bridge on his way south. He aims to reach Land's End on Friday, June 23.
On each of the 19 days, he will be giving a bottle of prosecco to four strangers he meets along the way.
Rob (48) has worked for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, covering athletics, snooker, boxing and other sports.
He was among those who helped clean up after protesters threw orange powder on a table during a match at this year's World Snooker Championships.
He will be raising funds and awareness for the Brain Tumour Charity and Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home on his end-to-end challenge, dubbed the Absent Friends Tour.
Rob is the official goodwill sports and tourism ambassador for Uganda. He is working on an initiative to help find the next generation of Ugandan broadcasters in a competition in which he will be a judge and mentor.
As part of his work with the Uganda Tourism Board, Rob will also be awarding one donor from his JustGiving page a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to Uganda to trek the mountains of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a Unesco World Heritage site, to see mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
“My job has taken me to work and travel in more than 40 countries around the world and Uganda is the friendliest place I have ever been,” Rob said.
"I will be running and cycling in official Ugandan athletics kit to celebrate the prize of an all-expenses-paid holiday to Uganda for a week for two people to go trekking with mountain gorillas, offered to one lucky donor that I will choose at random.
"It’s an incredible experience which I was lucky enough to do myself this year.”
