“Hi, I’m Ian Alderman and this is my daughter Eve… it’s great to see you here!”

We are a neurodiverse, home-educating, family who loves travel and adventure. We spend as much time as we can outdoors exploring the wild places of Great Britain. We are strong believers in charity and have raised thousands of pounds for various good causes.

We have been featured on the BBC, Country Walking Magazine, newspapers, podcasts and other publications, sponsored by brands such as SealSkinz, Helinox and Rode and supported by people such as Sir Richard Branson.

I want to show you that anybody (including you) can do amazing things. After all, the more you learn about us, the more you will realise ‘if they can do it, so can I! We are also proud to be raising awareness and challenging stereotypes around neurodiversity and mental health, working closely with The National Autisitic Society.

The first time I was ever on TV, I was on Crimewatch… weird, I know!

Why do we talk a lot about the outdoors?

What started the journey?

Autism & Mental Health

Now for some narcissism

if you have got this far, thank you.

Seriously though… thank you!

Ian

As a child I volunteered with the British Red Cross and later on joined the army as a combat medic, which sent me to the Middle East. I’ve also worked as a firefighter for The Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and had my own business.

Due to personal reasons, when Eve was little, the business was sold and life completely changed. I worked in the local village, helping various charities/people, whilst focusing more on adventure and home education. Basically enjoying life with the people I love and appreciating the time we have here together.

I face challenges everyday from autism, the biggest being social interaction and communication. I hope our current adventure (walking from John o’Groats to Land’s End with a twist: starting at the most northerly point of mainland Britain, Dunnet’s Head, and finishing at the most southerly point, Lizard) will raise awareness of autism in males and females of all ages and give people the confidence and inspiration to go out and do anything they want to do/be whoever they want to be.

My happy place is outside, where I feel free. This walk is just the start and there are plans for many more adventures, challenges and charitable things. I hope you enjoy following along on our journey with us!

Eve

Eve is awesome (though I may be biased!) and, at the tender age of 8, already has big ambitions. As if deciding a trip from one end of the country to the other was not enough (the walk was Eve’s idea), she already has plans to climb Mount Everest when she’s older. There’s a poster of Mount Everest above her bed so it’s the first and last thing she sees every day.

Eve also has a formal diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder which impacts her life every single day. Being outdoors in nature, whatever the weather, whether hiking in mountains or wild swimming, makes her feel joyful and free spirited. She is home educated so that will continue on our journey. Feel free to check out home education resources/links that we’ll be sharing along the way.

Sarah

Sarah (my wife & Eve’s mum) is our rock and the backbone of this journey/our home education. She has been part of the Scottish Mountain Rescue, a geography teacher, an expedition leader, raft guide, canoe & kayak instructor, and has specialist training as a teacher for statemented children. She basically rocks & provides our support, strength & resilience.

And oh how we’ve needed that resilience. When Eve was 1, Sarah was diagnosed with cancer and had to have several operations. At the same time they found a tumour in Eve and we were formally told by the doctors that Eve would die. We lived in the children’s hospital whilst Eve had treatments and Sarah went for her operations. Sarah would then discharge herself to come back to the children’s hospital so we could all be together. It was a harrowing time but amazingly (and joyfully) both survived.Now she’s also involved in plenty of charity work & helping people, along with cake sales for children in need, the homeless, people on their own at Christmas and many others. Our approach to life has totally changed, and is all about family, people, integrity etc. rather than careers, as we want to enjoy whatever time we have here with our loved ones.

Sarah is the most amazing, kind, caring and patient person you could ever meet.

This walk wouldn’t be possible without her support and she’s aiming to meet up with us every couple of weeks to provide supplies, clean clothes and cuddles!