Matthew Flinn will walk 84 miles to raise money for homeless veterans through “The Great Tommy Sleep Out.”
He’s bringing army food and some audiobooks. He hopes these will help him on the journey. This is his second time doing the event, as last time, he went to Scotland and Matthew wants to raise even more money this year, as last year, he got about £400.
Matthew wants to make the challenge harder to hopefully help him raise more money because he thinks this cause is really important. The Royal British Legion Industries runs the event, which is called The Great Tommy Sleep Out.
Every March, people sleep outside to raise money, which helps RBLI support homeless veterans. Matthew now works as a shopkeeper and, as his family has served in the military for a long time, he really wants to help veterans.
He has seen homeless veterans and he thinks it is very sad that people who served their country should not be homeless. Matthew wants to help in any way that he can, despite having camped before, but is not a hiker, and worries about hurting his feet!
Matthew is sure he will stay motivated because people have donated and support him. This keeps him committed to finishing, even if he might even need more than four days.
Matthew served in the Royal Navy for six years and he even went to Afghanistan. He will hike around seven hours each day, taking short breaks and then, he will find a safe place to sleep.
He also worries about his heavy backpack, which contains military food packs and a gas stove, making the load very heavy. Food includes beef stew and lemon rice. Matthew wants total self-reliance on the trip and is avoiding pubs to make it harder and will eat army ration packs only.
Matthew will say goodbye to his family, but he has music and audiobooks to cheer him. He knows he’s raising money for a great cause.
Lisa Farmer runs RBLI. She says the sleep out shows veterans’ sacrifices and that returning veterans can face homelessness. Support from people like Matthew is very important, because the money helps veterans in need greatly and also raises awareness of veteran homelessness.