Defiant Optimism

16-year-old Jacob Reddy decided to use his summer holidays to busk in every city in England – all 51 of them – to raise money for a charity that looked after his brother.
He performed in all weathers, with big audiences and small ones – and managed to raise nearly £10,000 in the process.
Jacob was raising money for Derian House, a Chorley-based children’s hospice that provides respite and end-of-life care to more than 400 babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions. It was the hospice where his brother, Joseph, received regular care.
Joseph contracted meningitis when he was one month old, and the infection left his brain severely damaged. Joseph would have been 21 this year, so Jacob and his family wanted to mark the occasion in a special way.
We speak to Jacob about his tour – the reaction he got, the money he raised, and how he felt.
CHAPTER MARKERS:
1.17: Why I wanted to do this challenge
2.55: Preparing for the road trip
4.00: Notable moments while busking
5.56: Inspiration behind the challenge
6.57: The impact for Derian House charity
8.00: Further fundraising after the challenge
10.02: Advice for others
14.11: The best songs of the trip
15.23: The finish line
16.27: What’s next for Jacob?
17.29: What does defiant optimism mean to you?
18.43: Where to find out more

Support the charity: https://www.derianhouse.co.uk/
Donate to Jacob's fundraising page: https://justgiving.com/fundraising/buskingjacob
Follow Jacob and his music: https://www.facebook.com/jacobreddymusic/

Joanna Stokoe raised more than £15,000 in a solo charity swim across the English Channel, completing the 21-mile swim in 15 and a half hours.
As an oncologist, she chose to raise money for the Sussex Cancer Fund and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation – two charities that are connected with her day-to-day work with cancer patients.
She was preparing for the endurance swim for more than two years. On episode 4 of Defiant Optimism, we speak to her about what it took to train, what it's like to swim the English Channel, and how she managed to complete it.
CHAPTER MARKERS

0.00-1.40 - Introduction
1.40-2.49 - How you swim the English Channel
2.49-3.48 - The actual swim
3.48-7.06 - ’The difficult bit was the end’
7.06-10.41 - Smashing the fundraising target
10.41-12.59 - The impact on the charities
12.59-14.35 - The planning and prep
14.35-17.12 - ‘You have to think you can do it’
17.12-18.39 - Tips for fundraising challenges
18.39-21.11 - What does defiant optimism mean to you?

Follow Joanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoannaStokoe
Support and find out more about the Sussex Cancer Fund: https://www.sussexcancerfund.co.uk/
Support and find out more about the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation: https://roycastle.org/

Matt Bagwell created an event called ‘Run the Country Ultra’, which saw him run more than 1m050km across England in September 2021 to raise funds and awareness for male suicide prevention and World Suicide Prevention Day.
He ran 21 consecutive ultra marathons (an ultra marathon is a distance past 26 miles) across England and raised more than £50,000 for charity for CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Matt crossed 43 county borders in England before finishing in London on 5th October, and had an aim to help spread awareness of the sadly high male suicide rates and spread hope that it is always possible to ask for help.
Listen to our chat with Matt, where he speaks about what got him through the intense physical challenge, why our mindsets are so important, and shares tips and inspiration for others to take on their own challenge.
CHAPTER MARKERS:
1.23: Matt introduces his challenge
2.46: What inspired him to take it on
4.38: The impact of his fundraising
6.08: How (and why) he got others involved
8.39: How he managed to get through it
10.58: The importance of mindset
13.37: The finish line
16.24: Advice on fundraising challenges
18.58: What does defiant optimism mean to you?
20.25: Where find out more

Find out more about Run the Country Ultra: https://runthecountryultra.com/
Donate to Matt's JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/runthecountryultra
Support CALM: https://www.thecalmzone.net/

Jessica Mullins and her teammates rowed the Atlantic at the beginning of 2022, taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
It's been dubbed the 'World's Toughest Row': a 3,000 mile mission from La Gomera, Spain to Antigua. It is an extreme endurance race dubbed one of the most challenging endurance races in the world.
Jessica was the Skipper and Project Manager of their four mixed team, IN DEEP SHIP and she put their international team together two years ago.
Overall, they raised around £70,000 to run the campaign and donate to their chosen charities on the challenge. We spoke to Jessica about why she decided to take it on, what it was actually like, and how it feels to have completed it... plus gained a World Record!
CHAPTER MARKERS:
0:00: Introduction to Jessica
1:31: What inspired the challenge
4:00: Recruiting the team
6:03: What the training was like
7:58: What a typical day was like
9:33: What helped get you through?
12:33: How was it nearing the end of the challenge?
15:15: How it felt to finish
16:55: Raising money for 3 charities
19:51: Advice for others
23:14: Winning a World Record
26:15: What does defiant optimism mean to you?

Find out more about the team: https://www.indeepship.com/
Donate to their chosen charities:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/indeepship
https://www.crisis.org.uk/
https://www.covenanthousebc.org/
https://www.anthonynolan.org/
Follow Jessica: https://www.instagram.com/jessicammullins/

In 2011, Yvonne Booth designed and created the '10 in 10' challenge – to climb 10 peaks in 10 hours in the Lake District.
She designed it as a response to her husband Duncan’s diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010 at the age of 39. Multiple Sclerosis is a debilitating neurological disease with no cure. As a wife and mother, she wanted to do something positive and help raise money for research into this cruel illness.
Since then, Yvonne has run the event once a year – raising money for the MS Society UK. The challenge now sees hundreds of fundraisers climb 10 mountains in 10 hours, and she has also introduced the option to climb 5 mountains in 5 hours.
We caught up with Yvonne to find out more about the event, what it's like to undertake, and how you can get involved.
CHAPTER MARKERS
1:19: How the 10 in 10 came about
6:14: Why climbing mountains?
8:13: What it's like doing 10 in 10
9:57: How people get through it
11:43: Raising money for MS Society UK
15:14: Reaching each peak
16:34: The 2022 challenge
17:51: Advice for others
20:01: What does it mean to Duncan?
21:23: What does defiant optimism mean to you?
23:11: Where to find out more
23:42: Closing remarks

Find out more about the 10in10: https://10in10.org.uk/who-we-are/
Support the MS Society UK: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/