A YOUNG Annalong man, who completed a demanding 38.5km trek through the Mournes at the weekend, has thanked everyone who has helped raise thousands of pounds for his former school. Nathan Pierson took on The Mourne Way, or as he likes to call it ‘The SuperNat Way’, completing the trek from Rostrevor to Newcastle in just over ten hours.
Nathan, a former regional Pride of Britain winner and an ardent fundraiser, who has autism and verbal dyspraxia, had hoped to raise £500 for Donard School in Banbridge, which played a special role in his younger years. However, once news spread of his latest charity endeavour, which marked an end of a three-year hiatus in his charity endeavours, the donations came flooding in – with an astonishing £3,000 already confirmed online. He still has to add up all the cash donations, and will reveal the final amount in due course, but only once he has been able to tell the teachers and pupils at his former school first. The kind-hearted local, who is also known as ‘Super Nat’ due to his various endeavours, is thrilled with the amount which has been raised, and so appreciative of everyone’s support. Speaking after Saturday’s trek, which came hot on the heels of ‘SuperNat’ hosting an exhibition in Newcastle which showcased his self-taught photography skills, the young man explained that he and his mum Leza set off from Kilbroney Forest Park at 8am, and were delighted to arrive outside the Newcastle Centre around 6.30pm.
Covering smaller mountains, on stone tracks and rugged paths, Nathan and his supporters coped with a range of conditions, both overhead and underfoot – including heavy rain, which lasted for almost half of the trek. Travelling through areas including the Trassey Track and Tollymore Forest Park before finally reaching the seaside, Nathan said the weather was certainly “mixed”. “We started with sunshine but then we had loads of heavy rain for the last 16km. The ground was mucky in parts and loads of our route at Tollymore Forest Park was closed off, so we had to divert to get back to our route,” he explained. Nevertheless, despite a few glitches courtesy of Mother Nature, Nathan was thrilled to see his welcoming party on his arrival in Newcastle.
In the lead-up to this challenge, Nathan had completed a series of training treks, although none were as long as the one completed at the weekend. “The longest training trek we completed was doing the route in two separate parts, the first from Kilbroney Forest Park to Ott Car Park and the second from Ott Car Park to Newcastle. “The challenge was a lot different because it was twice that we have walked before. “The longest walk that we had done is 20km and that was hard on its own,” he admitted. He said the final stretch, from Trassey to Newcastle, was the hardest “as our legs were tired and our feet were sore and wet and the stony paths made it hard for our bodies” but he was spurred on to complete the trek as a way to honour everyone who contributed. “I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who had donated and sponsored me on my SuperNat Way Challenge and to all the businesses who have supported me in my fundraising challenge,” he said, adding that donations can still be made via JustGiving.com. Simply search on the page for ‘SuperNatWayChallengefor Donard’. “The reason why I did this big fundraising challenge is to help other young people who have autism and special needs like myself and also have problems with communication as the new special equipment will give them a voice and I know how hard it is to be understood with my verbal dyspraxia. “My goal was to raise £500 towards Donard School Banbridge special equipment as they needed £6,000 for the equipment and staff training. I haven’t released my fundraising total yet but all will be revealed soon as I would like Donard Special School to know first, but we are so excited to reveal the final fundraising total,” he added. If you follow his Nat Photography Northern Ireland and Fundraising for All Heroes pages on Facebook and Instagram you will soon learn of Nathan’s grand total. “I will do an announcement post soon with the final fundraising total,” he continued. “The reason I do the fundraising and these challenge is to inspire others with autism and special needs to achieve their dreams and have their own voice and also helping others too. “I would like to say one more time a massive and the biggest thank you to everyone who supported my SuperNat Way Challenge in many ways. It’s now over and out, until the next time,” he added.
