British football fanatic undertakes challenging 2,000-mile odyssey in support of UK hospice

A British football coach is currently attempting to dribble a football more than 2,000 miles to raise funds for the hospice that cared for his father in his final days. James Lewis began his gruelling, non-stop challenge in Marrakesh (Morocco) on 1 May and hopes to arrive in his hometown of Rugeley, Staffordshire, around 19 July.

The 26-year-old aims to raise 100,000 pounds sterling for the St Giles Hospice, which provides care across the Staffordshire and North Birmingham areas.

This fundraiser, which involves covering a distance of around 40 kilometres each day, is the latest in a number of challenges Lewis has undertaken since his father died in 2011, including running from Paris to Rugeley. However, he does not consider himself to be overly athletic.

“I have done a few challenges and have run marathons, but I wouldn’t say that I am extremely athletic. I trained for about six months before I began, but it is proving to be a demanding challenge, but I know I will finish it. If I have any problems, I will not give up and go home, I’ll sit it out and then continue,” he tells SUR in English.

The young Manchester United fan faced some challenges during the Morocco leg of his journey, such as the heat, and being circled by a pack of wild dogs, which, thankfully, “only barked at me, but was still quite terrifying”.

“The Moroccan’s were really lovely to me, but one of the biggest challenges is obviously the language, and the wild dogs: the dogs seemed to hate me. Morocco was difficult, as I was travelling through rural areas and in intense heat. I was a little nervous at times and got some strange looks, but the children wanted to play football, so that was uplifting,” he says.

The politely spoken Brit (who speaks no Spanish) crossed the Strait of Gibraltar last Friday, after which, he continued to dribble the football through Tarifa and on to Ronda, where he caught the attention of several locals intrigued to see an Englishman running through the streets with a football. The route will next take him to Cordoba, and then Madrid, where his girlfriend will meet him for the day.

“My girlfriend has been very supportive, but she was not too keen on me being away for eleven weeks. I will only have a few hours with her in Madrid as I am determined to stick to my schedule,” he explains.

From Madrid, the tenacious Staffordshire lad will head to Calais and on to the UK, where he intends to arrive home in time to “see England win the 2026 World Cup final”. However, he admits he is more confident that he will finish his challenge than he is of The Three Lions lifting the cup.

For the time being, he still has a huge challenge ahead, with another eight weeks of running with the ball in rising temperatures and, no doubt, with increasingly aching muscles.

“I’m absolutely exhausted and I just want to stay in bed at a hotel for a day, but this is not an option. I am aware of the physical and mental impact this is having on my body, but I am absolutely committed to the achieving what I set out to do,” he concludes.

Lewis is keeping his followers updated with daily videos on his Facebook page. The JustGiving page he set up has so far collected 8,000 pounds, although he is hoping to attract a major sponsor to help him reach his target of 100,000 pounds.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/jameslewis26