Henry Moores met his target three days before his arrival on the Spanish island, so has decided to set a new challenge by increasing the target to over €177,000.
This is not Henry’s first rodeo.
After hitting the road for 21 days from Macclesfield in England all the way to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Henry Moores decided to challenge himself again.
The 21-year-old young man is walking from Manchester City Centre to Ibiza, a 2400km trip, in around 60 days to raise money for the Tony Hudgell Foundation.
So far, he has only rested for two days.
“I’m a very charitable person. I’ve always wanted to do something massive, something maybe a bit stupid and to catch the attention of people’s eyes. And I’ve always flirted with the idea of walking to Spain,” he said.
Moores messaged Wayne Lineker on Instagram, who owns the Lineker’s bar in Ibiza, and together found a sponsor, Au Vodka. Later, they created a fundraising page.
The fundraiser has been updating his followers and supporters on each day’s milestones since day one on his social media platforms.
Two days before Henry’s arrival date (16 June) and two hours before the game of England vs Serbia that he promised to watch at Wayne Lineker’s bar, he has reached £107,297 – more than the initial set goal.
“I think it’s difficult to appreciate things when you’re so tired. It’s so hard. But yesterday when I saw we hit the goal, it cracked a huge smile. It felt surreal. I felt weird, had goosebumps on my legs.”
He has now increased the target to £150,000 (around €177,858.90) – and it is already planning the next challenge.
Mental game over physical strength
Before stepping into this challenge, the young fundraiser had no physical training to endure steep paths and temperature changes.
Henry Moores says there is “not much” he could do.
“You can be as fit as you want, but there’s always going to be problems that pop up and stuff that is going to knock you back. So I think a lot of it was just mental preparation and just going through the process in your brain.“
Some days are tougher than others. So far, the worst part of his 2400km walk has been going through the Pyrenees due to isolation and no phone connection.
The possible presence of animals like snakes, bears and wild boars did not help either.
“It was probably a two-week period of constantly walking up and down hills, and some of these towns are literally in the middle of nowhere”. Henry told Euronews.
“I do recall one day when I just cried all night, and the next morning I cried and felt so upset for no reason, I think I just got very overwhelmed,” he added.
But that did not stop him from keeping going. Celebrities, such as Johnny Fisher and Kai Fagan, and friends have joined him along the way to keep his chin up.
“Random people, people I’ve met online, celebrities just flown out to meet me, to walk with me… [They’ve] shown me a lot of love. They brought me food, they’ve brought me clothes, they’ve brought me deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush,” Henry said.
In one of his daily updates, Henry also recalled meeting an Argentinian traveller, Max, who had no phone and had been rough sleeping.
“I had €50 and a sandwich that day, so I gave it to him. I thought he could use it better than me.”
Cheering around the globe
His social media videos have been flooded with questions about his next steps during this trip, suggestions, or just admitting to watching his videos as part of their routine.
Despite walking around six to eight hours a day, Henry replies to many queries.
One follower wrote on his posts: “My morning routine is waking up and seeing the day before recap.”
Another wrote that he is “seriously debating on getting a flight out to welcome you on 16 June”.
