One man and his dog are walking the entire coastline of Britain, cleaning up the beaches as they go

Wayne Dixon and his dog Koda are litter-picking the UK coastline, raising awareness of mental health while highlighting the litter problem.

Wayne Dixon hopes his quest to clean-up Britain’s beaches will inspire others

Wayne Dixon and his dog Koda set off on their journey to walk and litter-pick around the coast of mainland Britain in February 2016, on a mission to raise awareness and help educate children on the value of Keeping Britain Tidy. Walking in memory of his father, Wayne is raising funds for the mental health charity MIND

Their mission: to help educate young children on the value of Keeping Britain Tidy

Wayne Dixon and his dog, Koda, set off on their epic journey walk and litter pick around the coast of mainland Britain on the first day of February 2016. Their mission is to raise awareness and help educate young children on the value of Keeping Britain Tidy.

Walking in memory of his late father John Dixon, author of several walking guides, Wayne is raising funds for the mental health charity MIND as there has been a history of Bipolar and depression amongst the Dixon family and friends. 

His beloved companion Koda also raises funds for the Northern Inuit dog Rescue Society. At just 9 months old, Koda had experienced 4 previous owners. On the death of their father, Wayne and his sister Maxine inherited Koda, and now with support from his charity, he has found his forever home.

Wayne is self funded and travels on a small budget. This provides for his, and Koda’s basic needs, but doesn’t cover the cost of replacing worn out boots and/or broken equipment. For those expenses they must rely upon a fundraising page.

The touching reason behind Wayne’s epic walk

On his Virgin Money Giving fundraising page, Wayne explains the heartbreaking inspiration behind this epic walk around Britain’s coastline:

‘I am walking in memory of my late father John L Dixon who suffered from Bipolar disorder for many years & he passed away in September 2012. My father was a well known person within his local community, but he was vulnerable, and in the last 3 weeks of his life was preyed upon by local thieves and subjected to the indignity of verbal abuse and physical assault. Many were witness to these incidents but it was only after my father died that these people came to our home to tell us what they had seen. None had come forward to give him help and support, or to notify the family, when he needed it most. Life was difficult coming to terms with his sudden death and this was made doubly difficult after being told he suffered at the hands of other human beings before he died.’

‘My father and I had started to walk sections of the coastal path, which were some of my happiest times with him. I have now found myself in a position to complete my father’s ambition to walk the UK coast with me, his son. I’m using it as a healing process for myself and taking the opportunity to raise money for the charity MIND. My aim is to raise awareness for mental health and to change peoples attitudes, reactions and responses to those people who fall vulnerable in their communities. A big thank you to all those who support me & Koda & the charity MIND.’

You can find Wayne and Koda on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

Source: VirginMoneyGiving