A woman who spent 48 hours on the London Underground to raise money for charity said it was an "absolutely wonderful experience" - but vowed "never, ever" to do it again. Ali White began her two-day journey on Friday and finished just after 11am on Sunday.
In the process she passed through all 272 tube stations and travelled up and down all the lines. "It's a nice way to spend a weekend," she said, "exploring bits of London I have never been to before."
Ali took on the challenge after her dad, Andrew White, died unexpectedly in 2016 from a pulmonary embolism - a blocked blood vessel in the lungs. She has raised money for charity every year since - except during the pandemic, when she was unable to do so.
Those missed years led her to take on three challenges in three months which she described as "The Trifecta Of Stupidity". She cycled 100 miles from her dad's birthplace in Middlesbrough to York, ran the Oxford Half Marathon and finally completed her tube challenge.
In doing so she has raised more than £2,500 for three charities: Mind, Centrepoint and the NSPCC. "I feel absolutely overwhelmed by the support from people on Twitter and social media," she said.
"We've ended up raising over three times what I originally aimed for, which is just absolutely incredible. Absolutely wonderful experience, but never, ever again."
During her tube challenge she was accompanied at times through the weekend by friends to spur her on and allow her to nap. Ali, who is also a volunteer with the British Transport Police, was given a special Transport For London (TfL) pass so she wouldn't receive a penalty fair after not tapping out for 48 hours.
"I had a bunch of rules that I have to stick to - I couldn't tap out or hang around on a platform and let trains go past," she said. "I could only stop to swap trains, go to the loo or have some food.
"I was also be taking part in mini-challenges, little bits on the tube, little quirks. For example, the deepest tube station is Hampstead, it is 15 stories deep and my mini challenge was to climb those steps."
Ali, a policy advisor from Shepherd's Bush, London, said her favourite station was Tufnell Park, which she described as "a quiet, cute station out on the Northern line". She is hoping the money she raised will help to improve people's lives.
"Overall, I'm hoping whatever money this raises goes to help some of the most vulnerable in society, and makes someone's life somewhere a little better," she said. "My dad made my life a hell of a lot better.
"He made me who I am today, so by donating, you're helping me pay that favour forward and say thanks for who he was."
You can donate at Ali's Trifecta Of Stupidity fundraiser page.
