This August, Mr Iain Walker, the British High Commissioner to Ghana will be cycling over 1,000km from the north to the south of Ghana.

A statement issued by the British High Commission and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the High Commissioner’s cycling dubbed, “Ghana Grand”, is an initiative stemming from a genuine desire to effect a positive change.

“It aims to engage different people with different voices doing extraordinary things across Ghana; meet many partners and friends the UK has worked within Ghana over the decades and establish new connections along the way,” it said.

It noted that the three key areas of focus as penned by Mr Walker were health, tourism and the natural environment, and overcoming challenges.

With regards to health, Mr Walker said as Ghana continues its journey to self-reliance, health and wellbeing were crucial for empowerment.

He said the UK had long partnered with Ghana in this domain and their medical experts had trained together side-by-side.

“I hope to meet many of these people who are doing extraordinary things each day to support the health and wellbeing of others. Cycling is my own way of making a healthy lifestyle choice; I hope to provoke conversations about other approaches,” the High Commissioner stated.

On tourism and the natural environment, Mr Walker noted that: “Ghana is a beautiful, friendly, vibrant country with amazing people doing great things. Its warmth matched by the people's welcoming nature.”

“During this trip, I plan to celebrate the many things that unite the UK and Ghana: heritage, food, culture, music, values; and emphasise our efforts to get ahead of the challenges that affect us all: plastics, forest reserves and climate change.”

Concerning overcoming challenges, the High Commissioner said: “I want to challenge myself by cycling 1OOOkm+ from the north to south of Ghana: I am not a professional cyclist”.

“I want to engage others to confront what they think to be impossible and prove themselves wrong. Or indeed to join me on the last day of the cycle.”

The statement said #TheGhanaGrand was also an avenue to raise funds in support of the Burns and Reconstructive Surgery Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

It noted that donations in support of this initiative were very welcome.

It said those who wished to be part of this story and support their aims, could donate via online (https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=TheGhanaGrand&pageUrl=1&isTeam=true), Standard Chartered account: 0100104061801, MTN Shortcode: *700*9#, CODE: The Ghana Grand, and Vodafone Cash: 020756635