Phoebe Smith on an Antarctica training trip in Fisherfield, Scotland, the official Middle if Nowhere, UK, the furthest point to any road

Phoebe Smith on an Antarctica training trip in Fisherfield, Scotland, the official Middle if Nowhere, UK, the furthest point to any road

Members of the Long Distance Walkers Association have confirmed adventurer and writer Phoebe Smith as their president.

The presenter behind the Wander Woman podcast was confirmed in the post at the association’s recent annual meeting.

Ms Smith said: “I am thrilled to be president of the LDWA, with a strong membership of enthusiastic members who are all ambassadors for the joys and benefits of being outside, keepers of the best database of walking routes there is and organiser for many an event that get people walking.

“We are, like a good pair of hiking boots, the perfect fit.”

Her 10 books to date include the newly released Travel Writer’s Field Guide. She also wrote Extreme Sleeps: Adventures of a Wild Camper; Wilderness Weekends: Wild Adventures in Britain’s Rugged Corners, and the first guide book to British bothies, Book of the Bothy.

She said she is passionate about inspiring young people and helping those who don’t get to choose to sleep wild and get outdoors for fun, and is an ambassador for Centrepoint, the young people’s homeless charity.

To date she has raised more than £42,000 for them in her Extreme Sleep Outs.

In November this year she will embark on an expedition with her team-mate Dwayne Fields to complete a world first in Antarctica to raise money to take a group of underprivileged young people to the White Continent in 2020 through her #WeTwo Foundation.

She was the first person to camp at all the extreme points of mainland Britain, solo, on consecutive nights, has slept the Three Peaks and walked across Britain, sleeping rough while dressed as Wander Woman.

The LDWA was formed in 1972 and currently has more than 7,000 members. It is the governing body for long-distance walking. It regularly stages challenge events and each spring it organises its main major event, with members challenged to walk 100 miles in 48 hours.

The association said it classes any route of 20 miles or more as a long-distance walk.

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