My Story

In 2021, my brother Luke and I ran the Marathon Des Sables, raising funds to help and protect children living in children’s homes, residential schools, and mental health units. During his last few years our Father, John Kemmis, pushed for national changes to make sure every child who needs an advocate can receive timely and high-quality help. Finally, in 2020, continuing his work, Article 39 secured a promise from the government to revise and improve the national standards for these services. We decided given our father’s wishes, and his respect for the work of Article 39, that it would be fitting to help them raise the necessary funds to educate all involved by running nationwide training sessions. We are proud to say this came to fruition and the courses continue to run. 

The challenge this year is even more daunting than the 250km Marathon Des Sables. In September, we will be taking on what is considered the toughest mountain race in the world – The Dragons Back, joined this time by a colleague Chai. Our target is to traverse 380km across the spine of Wales over the 6-day event. In this time, we will complete an ascent of 57,000 feet, roughly twice the height of Everest. "Why?", I hear you ask, in short, to ensure that young people in vulnerable circumstances receive the support they so urgently need.

With our mutual love of rugby and desire to help young people, we were happy to partner with School of Hard Knocks (SOHK) for this year's event. The SOHK charity helps young people in complex and challenging situations to navigate their lives and provides them with the tools to cope with their experiences through a combination of team sport, group mentoring, and individual one-to-one support. The conditions that SOHK’s young people are living in are varied. Some may be homeless or living in extreme poverty, and others may be victims of exploitation or abuse - there is no defining characteristic of a SOHK beneficiary, but all of these young people are facing some kind of adversity and need a trusted adult to turn to.

In order to carry out the work that they do, it is vital that SOHK delivery staff are properly trained and well-equipped to recognise potential risks and intervene effectively to protect young people from harm so we are aiming to raise enough money for SOHK to ensure their entire frontline delivery staff receive essential safeguarding training in addition to sponsoring youths through the program. The profound impact that SOHK has is rooted in the long-term commitment the charity makes to its young people. School of Hard Knocks
works with every young person for at least one - and up to three years, so we are determined to reach our target to provide these young people with the consistency they need.

This is a challenge like no other – it’s not every week you run 380KM over a 6-day ultramarathon ascending twice the height of Everest – so we’re asking you to help us by sharing our vision of protecting and supporting vulnerable young people by making a donation.

Many thanks for your generosity and support

Oliver, Luke and Chai