Sore feet for good cause
Wheldon Curzon- Hobson will walk 180 kilometres around Wellington and then to Palmerston North this month to help change the lives of young people.
Mr Curzon-Hobson, 45, said the purpose of the walk was for young people to share inspirational stories with him.
‘‘I meet a whole lot of young people in our area who are doing brilliant things,’’ he said.
The Kingston man said he would publish a book from the stories gathered.
‘‘If people start hearing stories from different worlds, hopefully that will inspire them.’’
The author and e- learning adviser said his only concern about walking 180km was sore feet.
‘‘ There are so many people around the world who have to walk thousands of kilometres because of war and famine, so what’s a few kilometres?’’
Money raised from the walk would go towards publishing and distributing the book for free, he said.
‘‘I am aiming for about 10,000 copies of the book to be given out in intermediate schools.’’
Mr Curzon-Hobson has never done a major walk before, but has written two books about working with young people in London and Manila.
‘‘I really want to inspire them. When they are young, most people want to change the world.’’
Young people had amazing ideas, but they needed a push, he said.
‘‘In Manila, somebody took this river weed that is really damaging and started turning it into designer bags.’’
His five-day walk will begin in Lower Hutt on November 18. He will walk through Porirua and Kapiti on November 19 and 20 and then head north.