Inverness-shire & Western Isles branch of SSAFA at the 13 Bridges Challenge

17 July 2026

Beverley Cartwright, a Community Engagement Volunteer with the Inverness-shire & Western Isles branch of SSAFA, participated in the 13 Bridges Challenge on June 27th (https://fundraise.ssafa.org.uk/event/13-bridges-challenge-2026/home). She raised nearly £600 for SSAFA and came 55th out of over 1200 walkers who attended the event. Her fundraising page can be seen at: https://fundraise.ssafa.org.uk/fundraisers/beverieycartwright/13-bridges-challenge-2026

This is her own story about the day:

What better to do after getting off the overnight sleeper from Aviemore to Euston station in London than walk 10 miles over 13 iconic Thames bridges on one of the hottest days of the year? Well that is what I did on Sat 27th June for Armed Forces Day. The event was put on by SSAFA and as a keen walker I thought the 10 miles would be a quick 'stroll in the park' however the weather had other ideas! Exiting the Caledonian Sleeper a little late I made a mad dash to Tower Hill to pick up my number and t shirt. Of course the extreme heat was playing havoc with the Tube so I arrived late and started my walk at 0935. Starting on a good pace I quickly skirted the beautiful Tower of London and crossed Tower Bridge to join the Embankment. By 1000hrs it was 29 degrees and the heat was bouncing off the concrete! After about an hour I fell in with another walker and we decided to Buddy up as the mercury was still rising and it was more enjoyable to have some company. The other walker was a keen supporter of SSAFA and had received help from them in the past when he had retired from the Army. Criss-crossing the bridges all the way down the Thames we reached a busy Westminster Bridge which took ages to walk across due to the number of selfie-taking tourists, Boris Bike riders and general mayhem. Then it was on to the higher reaches of the Thames and Battersea Power Station which was a quieter and more enjoyable stretch with a few trees to offer some shade. Eventually after 2hrs 55 mins it was over, and an ice cream was the order of the day - quickly eaten as it had now reached over 32 degrees. All was well until I realised I had to do another 3 miles to get to the closest running Tube! It was a brilliant morning, the heat was a bit savage and I was a sweaty mess by the end but fuelled by ice cream, cheery hellos and high fives from the volunteers en route and the knowledge I had raised £595 for such a worthy cause made it all worthwhile. To top it off I then got to go to see Take That and even after covering almost 50,000 steps I was still up for a boogie!