A DUNDONALD man is limbering up for a challenge of a lifetime when he treks the Amazon rainforest to raise money for a local centre for people with learning disabilities.
Tim Ramsey is setting off on a five-day, 230 kilometre ultra-marathon trek through Peru on May 27, to raise funds for the Four G Day Opportunities Service in Ballybeen.
Hiking in temperatures of around 30 degrees, in humidity which soars to between 80 to 100 degrees by day, 35 year-old Tim was last weekend training in Spain in a bid to get acclimatised to the oppressive heat he’ll face throughout the South American terrain.
Tim hopes to raise £5,000 and says he will keep going no matter what battering his body takes in the process.
The Dundonald centre caters for young adults with learning disabilities, with the money raised helping to provide them with days out and a variety of activities on top of its varied programmes.
Tim said he chose to raise funds for the Ballyoran Centre facility because he admires the services provided for young people, who live with disabilities including autism, which is run by his friend Jonathan Walker.
Though this is the most significant challenge Tim has ever taken, it’s not the first test of endurance he’s put himself through for good causes.
“I have done a 100-mile for charity walk around the Ards Peninsula, from Ards and Portaferry and on to east Belfast for Survivors of Suicide previously.”
As part of his preparation for his Amazonian adventure, Tim has been hill-running in the Mourne mountains regularly, carrying 10-kilogram weights in backpacks.
He also took the opportunity to see what running in the heat would be like, when he joined his girlfriend in Majorca last weekend where she was participating in an iron man competition.
Tim is well aware of the extreme nature of the challenge ahead, which will not only be marked by physical hardship, but also the local wildlife he could bump into along the way.
“My friend joked you’ve got piranhas, black caymen crocodiles, jaguars, green anacondas and tribes, then there’s some rocket from Ballybeen running across the jungle with a rucksack on and they are not sure what is more of a danger,” he quipped.
The quest will involve ‘walking the hills while you are eating’, running up and down very steep ascents but a welcome stop at the end of the day for some sleep.
“There are multi-stages which are 30 miles on the first day, then 40, then 20 over really steep ascents and then 75k in one day,” he revealed, culminating in the final stint of 30miles.
“It will be very challenging and it is a race and there’s a cut-off after the third stage; if you don’t get to that stage within a certain time you are disqualified so even if my legs were to fall off I am going to make it,” he joked. “I’m very determined.”
Jonathan, director of Four G, said ‘it’s just amazing’ that Tim chose the centre to benefit from his fundraising challenge.
“This challenge is just amazing and we are so grateful that he is doing this for us; we are over the moon,” he said.
“What’s even nicer is that we’re in Ballybeen and it’s really nice to see local people doing this type of thing for us, and going out of their way to do something for local people.”
The Peruvian challenge is the most exotic fundraising effort that has been taken since its establishment in 2022, but follows challenges also undertaken by its staff.
Jonathan Walker has endured a nine-hour spinathon in a recent fundraiser, while staff member Ashleigh Martin braved the skies for a parachute jump to celebrate her 40th birthday last year, and Kyra Stewart abseiled down the side of a tall building, all to raise funds totalling around £3000.
Financed by the Self-Directed Support, which is operated by the South Eastern Health Trust, the extra funds has enabled the attendees of Four G to enjoy cultural events on trips to Manchester and Edinburgh in recent times.
The small gang of 10, who participate in the centre at one time, also got the chance to enjoy a night away at Rosnashane House in Ballymoney, where they got to enjoy the luxuries of facials and massages at its spa.
