About James and Tom

James Carty
I am 28 years old and currently working as a management consultant for Monitor Company in London. Although born in Manchester, I am now resident in London (via Lincoln, North Yorkshire and Oxford). I studied history at university in Oxford , then took 2 years off to travel in South East Asia , South America and Spain . I have been working as a consultant for 5 years, in the UK and abroad.

The idea to walk to Jerusalem came to me out of the blue two years ago when sitting at my desk at work. However, a number of things influenced the decision to walk. Firstly, an interest in the Middle East developed during my studies. Secondly, a love of long distance walking, honed by a 300 mile walk through Spain to Santiago de Compostela some years ago. Finally, I was prompted by a growing concern at the dangerous growth of intolerance and misunderstanding between faiths witnessed in recent years and a desire to do something concrete towards helping to resolve these misunderstandings.

Tom Chappell

I am 26 years old and was in born in Preston , Lancashire . I now live with my girlfriend Kate in Glasgow , where I work as a renewable energy project developer for npower renewables. I studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University before going on to complete a year-long Masters in “Leadership in Sustainable Development” run by the London-based charity Forum for the Future. I have lived and worked in Scotland for more than two years now.

James put the idea of walking to Jerusalem to me a few months before setting off. Sharing a similar love of long distance walking and having walked with James through Spain to Santiago de Compostela in 2000, my strong desire to join him was originally frustrated through circumstances. The desire continued to niggle after he set off on his rather epic journey so that eventually - egged on by an enthusiastic girlfriend and enabled through the supportive attitude of my employer – I decided to join him for the 1200 mile finishing straight from Istanbul to Jerusalem . It is my hope that, as well as being an adventure and an experience for ourselves, our journey will allow us to make a significant contribution to the charities we are walking to raise money for and the causes they promote.