Adventure Activism
What is an Adventure Activist? Honestly, I don’t know (I made the title up!). But I’ve used my own adventures for activism – especially in the field of fertility. And now I’m also an activist for adventure – because I believe when life doesn’t turn out the way you hoped, going on an adventure will always change your life for the better. That’s what an Adventure Activist means to me (at the moment anyway…)”
Jessica becomes the first woman in the world to achieve ‘The Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’ – swim the English Channel, run a road marathon, and summit Mount Everest.
She is also one of only two women and the fourteenth person in history to complete the ‘Pond to Peak Challenge’
Sea: English Channel
On 2nd September 2015, Jessica swam the English Channel in 17 hours, 44 minutes and 30 seconds, raising over £25,000 for adults and children without the families they long for. She said it was like her version of ‘giving birth.’ Read about it in her second book: 21 Miles: Swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood.
Film by Katie Barlow
Street: London Marathon
On 23rd April 2017, Jessica ran the London Marathon for Fertility Network UK, raising over £5,000 for the charity. But please don’t get any sub-four ideas, it took her 5 hours and 27 minutes, proving that this adventure activist may be a Channel swimmer and a Marathon runner but she’s still no athlete!
Summit: Everest | Chomolungma
On 14th May 2022, Jessica summited Mount Everest at 7.30am in the morning. Her journey to the top of the world didn’t go to plan…but then that’s the story of her life! Her 2020 expedition was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. Her 2021 expedition resulted in a ‘non summit’. And in 2022, third time lucky, she finally made it but she broke her leg on the way down…
Jessica has written about her mountaineering madness in a new compilation of stories called ‘More Than It Hurts’