On the 4th of August, 23, I set off from the Wickham Festival in Hampshire to walk more than 180 miles to Foke East in Suffolk near Ipswich.

And I did it to raise money for the charity Help Musicians, which does vital work supporting musicians when they fall on hard times,

when they have mental or physical health problems,

and when they are struggling to build careers in what is a very challenging and precarious industry.

And along the way, I had some absolutely amazing experiences

because every night an artist came to meet me in the pub

and to play for me and whoever else had cared to turn up.

And this podcast is telling you the story of the Big Walk, 23,

from Wickham, Hampshire, to Foke East in Suffolk. Please welcome the stage Matt Ballastell.

Thank you, Steve.

I'm not going to sing.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to set off from Gate B at this festival,

at this wonderful festival, and I'm going to walk 180 miles to reach Folk East in two weeks.

And I'm doing it for an amazing course to raise funds for a charity called Help Musicians,

which supports musicians when they get into difficulties. During the pandemic they gave emergency grants to hundreds and thousands of musicians who got into real financial difficulties. During the pandemic, they gave emergency grants to hundreds and thousands of musicians

who got into real financial difficulties. And now they're supporting those musicians as they

come back out of lockdown. Some of them are facing mental health problems. Some of them have

physical problems. Some of them need business advice. But this charity loves music and musicians,

as I love music and

musicians. And so I'm going to take this supreme effort, walk 180 miles, and attract

sponsorship, and all of it will go direct to help musicians. I'm going to stand at the exit

as you come out tonight with a bucket, and I hope you're put some passion. And I'm going to be joined on the way by musicians every night, Steve Knightley and Johnny

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