Comedian’s tube trek highlights a serious situation

A STAND-UP comedian is taking time out of his hectic schedule of writing and touring to undertake a mammoth tour of every London tube station that included a Kensington Olympia stop on World Refugee Day.

Ben Van der Velde ( kicked of his tube tour on June 8 and has currently ticked off 132 stations as he is set to tackle most of west London in July.

After journeying from Wimbledon to Kensington Olympia on Monday (June 20) Ben was at Harrow -on-theHill and Wembley on June 20, West Ruislip and Ealing Broadway on June 28 and will be at Uxbridge and West Harrow on July 6.

He is taking on this challenge of a lifetime in aid of charity Refugee Council, which supports asylum seekers to rebuild their lives.

Taking time out on his journey between East Putney and Putney Bridge the 33-year-old said: “I wanted to do it because of the refugee crisis. As they are walking from Damascus to Calais I thought it would make sense to walk some of that distance. It’s harder then I thought. The first few days were fine but I’ve had really bad shin splints and my Achilles has ballooned.”

The journey will take him around 350 miles in the space of a month and Ben has so far raised £2,186 of his target £2,500.

He took up the challenge after he triedbut valiantly failed- to visit every embassy in London in 24 hours last year, and this time decided to up the stakes. Ben, who lives in Archway, North London added: “I’ve had lots of donations from people I don’t even know. It’s been really overwhelming how much people have donated. I’d love to get to five figures but that might be a step too far.”

Ben is set to polish off the tube trek on July 16 when he walks from Cockfosters to Knightsbridge.