The indoor bikes have been dusted off… the outdoor wheels oiled… the running shoes cleaned… the hiking boots re-laced… and the swimming goggles purchased.

Nine willing (or not so willing) souls have been rallied around and roped in for a mammoth two-month fitness and fundraising challenge for St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation – and I’ve agreed to participate 😬

Why us?

Leader of the pack, Karl Lehmann owner of Lehmann Financial Management, is super passionate about helping people to live a life of ‘purpose’ and has made it his life mission through the trademarked Dream It, Plan It, Live It philosophy… but what if you can’t live a life of purpose?

• Do you know a child or young person living with physical or mental health difficulties or experiencing a life-threatening or degenerative condition?
• What if you were a young person who is socially or economically disadvantaged?
• What if someone close to you was struggling with cancer or you needed help to deal with the effects of cancer for a relative or close friend?

The vital care offered by hospices, the care system and charitable organisations are needed now more than ever. With the recent pandemic, mental health challenges have risen enormously.

People suffering from the illnesses or conditions mentioned do not have the same opportunities or chance at living a life of purpose that we do.

But we can all help them. TODAY.

Karl, Harry and Dawn, the small team from Lehmann Financial Management, have encouraged, cajoled, and twisted the arms of friends to help raise much-needed support for those who need it most.

What is the team doing?

The Mission 3500 team are hellbent on raising £3500 (one pound per mile). With pound for pound matched funding from St. James’s Place, that’ll be a whopping £7000! All of the money raised will absolutely go to the charities.

Now isn’t that a figure that could save or improve many lives?

Each team member has chosen their virtual mission and stepped up to the challenge. It’ll be a gruelling few weeks and no doubt there’ll be a few expletives behind the scenes!

• 28.1 miles: 🏊 Anna is swimming the Hudson River, New York (plus running 100 miles)
• 107.5 miles:🚶Liz is walking Sandakhphu, Nepal to Gangtok, India
• 104.7 miles: 🏃 Dawn is running from Mount Fuji to Tokyo, Japan
• 2574 miles: 🚴 Simeon, Dave, Mark, Harry and Karl are cycling the North Coast 500 – a whopping 514.8 miles each!
• 695.9 miles:🚶Jonathon Forrester a.k.a. Mr Doomsday Machine is cycling the North Coast 500 and an Australian walk of 181.1 miles. Is he mad?

A few of the team are on the wrong side of 50 and the wrong side of 15 stone! But that’s providing all the more motivation to help improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.

Why St. James’s Place and My Virtual Mission?

In 2021, the St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation raised £8 million and gave a total of £11 million to charities that support people with life-threatening or life-changing conditions and circumstances.

The charity’s work provides a lifeline and makes a real and lasting difference to many charities that help people to gain a purpose in life – or at least to make them as comfortable as possible in life.

In 2022, the My Virtual Mission campaign aims to go beyond this. Participants choose one of seven virtual missions to complete over a two-month period to raise as much money as possible.

The cost of living is rising and many people are fundraising for worthy causes including the Ukraine plight. One of the many reasons why you might want to support us is the uplift your donation will receive.

One example of this is the employees and partners of St. James’s Place raising over £900,000 on 9 March for the Ukraine needs. With the matched pound for pound additional funding, a massive £1.8m was finally donated.

As the saying goes, every little helps, so if you can only spare a modest amount, help us to help others.

How you can support our journey

Click to sponsor. Connect to share 😊

Connect with us individually on social media to stay up to date with the progress, blood, sweat and tears as we share our breathtaking (literally) experience. Follow and share the hashtag #Mission3500.

It’s going to be a tough ride but fun all the same – and all for a brilliant cause.

Please do give generously and consider gift aid where possible and help us spread the word with a like, share and motivational comment.

Thank you for your support, it will make a huge difference 💚

P.S.

If you’d like to understand the tax breaks around charitable donations (personal and business) please ask Karl or Harry from Lehmann Financial Management. It all helps.

The link again: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mission3500