While you are sitting here reading this from the comfort of your chair (or, who knows, maybe in your bed or even in the bath), 62-year-old consultant cardiologist Professor Graham Stuart has rather more uncomfortable seating.
The Bristol grandparent is scheduled to be rowing 3,000 miles from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean – crossing the Atlantic Ocean as part of a team of 12.
He is doing it to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change and to support Christian relief agency Tear Fund in helping vulnerable communities adapt to the climate crisis and lift themselves out of poverty.
‘I will be really grateful for all my friends who will be praying for me,’ says Graham. ‘Pray for health, because on a small boat with 11 other people, if you’re unwell that’s a real difficult problem.’
He adds: ‘Climate change is an example of where we really have to show love to our neighbours in a very practical sense. We are meant to be good stewards of what we’ve been given, and we’ve been given a lovely world, but we’re seeing it being destroyed by global warming and man undoubtedly is contributing towards that. We also see that it affects the poor of the world disproportionately … I think that it’s a matter of justice as well as being mindful of poverty. And so that’s why I think it’s really important Christians are involved.’
