This week I am joined by the incredible Steven Crompton.

You may recognise him from season 2 of Channel 4s ‘SAS Who Dares Wins’ but believe me, you’ll remember him for a lot more than that once you’ve listened to this weeks’ podcast.

Steven had a hard childhood and grew up carrying a lot of trauma with him, from a young age he started to take drugs and drink which then led to addiction. He joined the army in his late teens which he believed was the answer to his problems; it provided him with a routine, hard training to complete, a sense of camaraderie and most importantly, a feeling of ‘belonging’ in a family of sorts. However, after he had completed his training and things got quiet he turned to gambling, a £3 bet tuned into thousands of pounds worth of debt and an administrative discharge from the only sense of security that he had found. Within a few months Steven was back on drugs, gambling worse than ever and ended up in prison.

We chat about Steven’s life, his motivation for change and one of the biggest things that helped him on his way to recovery; running. He recently embarked on an extreme endurance challenge; running the width of Africa - seriously! I’m not making it up! Listen to what he has to say about running 35 miles or more a day, how COVID-19 got in the way and also what animal he’d most likely to get eaten by all for a worthy cause!

Steven is now the founder of Challenge Child Poverty, a charity that helps children who are experiencing the devastating realities of poverty. Following a volunteering trip to Uganda in the first few years of his own recovery, he was shocked to witness extreme levels of child poverty. He felt compelled to do something to make a difference, and using his love of running, created a charity which combines sporting challenges and targeted fundraising.

This is a conversation not to miss, Steven is positive, inspiring and a general legend.

Find out more about Challenge Child Poverty on their website - get involved by joining in with their fundraising efforts or just donate to support a brilliant cause.

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