Travel Matters staff to swim, walk and cycle 700 miles in charity bid
Staff from agency Travel Matters are to swim, walk and cycle a total of 700 miles to raise funds for a protected ‘swimway’ for endangered marine life in the Galapagos Islands.
The team of five, joined by five supporters, aim to cover the equivalent distance of the proposed route of the swimway, which connects the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador with Cocos Island in Costa Rica.
The fundraiser is in support of one of the agency’s charity partners, the Galapagos Conservation Trust, which has been backing the creation of the route since 2018. This May, the Galapagos-Cocos Swimway expedition was launched to gather evidence to support the protection of the swimway.
Alongside this the GCT is running the virtual Swimway Challenge, which encourages people to walk, run, swim, cycle or wheelchair the length of the swimway while raising awareness and funds. It hopes to raise £10,000 in total.
Karen Simmonds, founder of Travel Matters and the Make Travel Matter campaign, said: “I was thrilled to accept the challenge and create a team for the Virtual Swimway. I’m an avid fan of open water swimming and despite not being able to be in the Galapagos to support this project, I believe we can create more awareness about this crucial passage for the protection of the marine life.”
The agency, based in Clapham, London, has staff in different parts of the UK, with one member in Geneva, Switzerland, and all are sharing and monitoring their fundraising activities via the Virtual Mission platform.
“We upload photos and distances to keep morale high and support each other. We have also created a WhatsApp group so we can share each other’s photos,” said Simmonds.
She added: “We are slowly chipping away at the kilometres, it’s been a great motivation for some, exercising and doing good not just for our own health but to raise awareness of the project too.”