A former RAF officer and pilot has pledged to walk 290 miles this month in aid of refugees.
Charity Action Foundation launched the Step Up for Refugees summer fundraiser on August 1– a step challenge created to show asylum seekers and refugees that they do not walk alone and that there are people willing to step up and support them. James Fairman was one of the first to take on the challenge to raise money and awareness for the charity where he volunteers.
The 43-year-old, who lives in Gosforth with his wife and seven-year-old daughter, is one of the first to take on our Step Up for Refugees Challenge . James, who undertook tours of duty in Iraq and in Northern Ireland as a Puma helicopter pilot, has chosen to do the walk because it was something he felt able to do.
He said: “One of my main motivating factors in doing Action Foundation’s Step Up for Refugees Challenge is to try and spread awareness of the fallacy that caring for those seeking asylum and homeless veterans are mutually exclusive. We can look after both, and the disadvantaged in our society.
"It starts with awareness and kindness, and Action Foundation provides both. I was hugely inspired when helping with Action Foundation’s Action Language service, helping teach English to those seeking asylum and refugees.”
He added: "As a white middle-class man, I've often been nervous to speak up for fear of sounding condescending, but Action Foundation gave me the opportunity to help via their Action Language programme. I've not been fit enough for a long time to try something like the Great North Run, so when I saw the Step up for Refugees challenge I thought it was something I could achieve. 10,000 steps didn't seem like much of a hardship for me, hence I went for 20,000 per day.
"I'm finding it harder than I expected, but it should be a challenge considering what it represents and the hardship that those escaping war, violence, and persecution have to go through."
James’ mission for Action Foundation won’t exactly be 'a walk in the park', however, as he is still battling mental health problems and alcohol addiction caused by the post-traumatic stress disorder with which he has belatedly been diagnosed. In 2007 James was involved in a fatal accident in which a close friend of his tragically died, it was not until 2018 – and after leaving his beloved flying career six years early – that he was diagnosed with PTSD.
James left the forces to retrain as a lawyer, studying at Northumbria University Law School before qualifying at Ward Hadaway on Newcastle’s Quayside. Returning to civvy street was a difficult transition though and he was still suffering huge stress.
After approaching Help for Heroes in 2018, he was referred to what is now Op COURAGE, the NHS mental health specialist service designed to help serve military personnel, reservists, veterans, and their families. James was assessed by an NHS psychiatrist in Newcastle who diagnosed PTSD and said he had probably been suffering from it for some years.
James has done a lot of reflection since leaving the RAF and some of that has inspired a real desire to help those displaced by conflict. He said: “Walking these distances with no training or kit are persecuted civilians who’ve left their homes with their small children, no belongings, giving their only money to smugglers in the hope of getting to safety.
"Crossing war-torn cities and heavy seas, only to try and find their way to somewhere like Mansfield and live on about £160 a month from the state because they’re not allowed to work. This is less than the guideline hourly rate for an inexperienced solicitor in Newcastle.”
He added: “I have done a huge amount of soul searching about my own contribution, and the UK’s, to Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous other countries, including those directly affected by British colonialism, and also those indirectly affected by our commercial and military might. I feel strongly that British power and wealth should be used sparingly and for the good of everyone, and that considering the amount of turmoil Britain has caused internationally over the last couple of hundred years, the very least we can do as a country is provide asylum to the needy and persecuted."
James enjoys volunteering for Action Foundation, a charity in the North East that is all about empowering refugees to overcome exclusion. One of his main motivating factors in doing the steps challenge is to try and spread awareness of the fallacy that caring for those seeking asylum and homeless veterans are mutually exclusive.
He added: "We can look after both, and the disadvantaged in our society. It starts with awareness and kindness, and Action Foundation provides both.”
James plans to share some stories on Instagram while he walks each day. “I hope to cover some information about refugee journeys and military journeys that tie in. Some will have a personal link, others will be from research."
If you’d like to listen in you can follow his Instagram account @FairyCakes33 and If you’d like to sponsor him you can do so here
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