To cross the Atlantic Ocean, alone and unsupported from West Africa to South America in a 7.3 metre rowing boat.

Leaving Freetown, Sierra Leone and finishing in Georgetown, Guyana; with the sole aim of raising awareness of the Commonwealth- the planet’s most diverse family, with the potential to change 2.4 billion lives for the better.

It’s amazing what can be achieved when people come together- just imagine 2.4 billion of us!

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It’s not about governments or politics but people – 2.4bn of the most richly diverse group of people on planet earth; all coming together to make all wealth, including that of education, health, environmental security and opportunity no matter where you’re from or what you gender, that little bit more common amongst each other.

As a former Royal Marines Commando, I’ve been able to experience the Commonwealth at its worst but also at its very best – its people coming together in order to help each other.

During 2000, I was sent to Sierra Leone twice as part of an effort to stabilise the country, then stuck in the depths of brutal war.

During that time, a local man from Freetown told me that, in his gut, he knew we would eventually come and help, explaining, Sierra Leoneans wouldn’t be forgotten.

His personal belief, that his nation’s bonds with others in a wider Commonwealth would eventually bring help, was what got him and others through the most horrific of days.

Since 2000, Sierra Leone has sadly been struck both by Ebola and devastating natural disaster, but on both occasions, just like in 2000, people from across the Commonwealth came to help. Now, Sierra Leone is once again a vibrant and thriving nation.

Sadly, in the majority of our lives, it’s not only the importance of the Commonwealth that is
waining, but even the knowledge of its very existence.

The Commonwealth isn’t about governments, but its people – the most diverse group of people on planet earth that total around one third of its population.

To raise awareness and improve knowledge, heighten cultural understanding and strengthen bonds, could, just maybe, draw together at least some of us 2.4 billion, producing many more helping hands and a greater, far more common-wealth.