“I took part in the Cape Wrath Challenge in May 2022 with fellow members of WWF‘s Board of Ambassadors. We walked 50kms up and down various Bens (mountains) in aid of Climate Change. We raised close to £200,000, which was hugely satisfying. I have been on the Board for nearly 20 years and I will never cease to be grateful for the work they do across all continents and against all odds.
Next year, and on a similar theme, I will be walking over Baffin Island (Arctic Circle) and hope to raise more money for good causes. This trip is a COVID hangover from March 2020. If I survive and enjoy Baffin Island, then the plan is to follow some of Henry Worsley‘s steps to the South Pole in December 2023. Will I plant a flag at the South Pole in Centenary year?
Elsewhere, and as regards my Vice Lord Lieutenant duties in West Sussex, it was a momentous and sad year for all of us and I never imagined that I would be involved so closely with both ‘Operation Firth of Forth Bridge’ (the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh) and then ‘Operation London Bridge’ for Queen Elizabeth II in such a short space of time. Plenty of time was spent at Gatwick Airport greeting the incoming royals and dignitaries as well as several media duties. A huge honour but ultimately one that you do with heavy heart.”