Castle director, Victoria Ansell, has reason to celebrate in 2022. Here she explains the slightly unusual way she’s planning to mark her milestone birthday...

Today, I hit 40! I’m not sure there are many people I know for whom this is not ‘a big thing’ – whether they dread it, or look forward to it. For some, it’s just another year, another number.

For me, it’s a damned good excuse for a party (especially after the last few years) so I’m really looking forward to that!

It’s also been an opportunity to reflect and think about what I want out of life – where have I come from, where am I headed? I’m very fortunate that I love what I do – my work at Castle Corporate Finance is always exciting, always challenging, always rewarding. Sometimes too all consuming! I am ever striving for that elusive work/life balance: enough time away from the screens, enough time for my gorgeous growing boys, enough time for me.

But in hitting 40, I realised I wanted a different challenge – something else to throw into the mix, something to aim for, something to motivate me to get fitter – mentally and physically.

My brother, Andrew Burnett, came across the Race the Sun challenge in aid of Action Medical Research for Children – a wonderful charity that does phenomenal work in funding ground breaking research to treat children suffering from a range of pretty awful conditions and diseases. It fit the bill perfectly: a fitness challenge with a real upside – an opportunity to support work which is vital, which will hopefully benefit so many others as well.

So I, and a wonderful team of inspiring (and possibly crazy!) women – Felicity Beasley, Tiffany Leach, Maria Worton – will be cycling 55 miles, hiking 8 miles, and rowing 2 miles around the Brecon Beacons, in an effort to “Race the Sun” on Saturday 11 June, 2022 and raising money at the same time.

If you would be willing to sponsor us in this craziness, I’d be hugely grateful – please see the link below, which also gives more information about the wonderful Charity we are supporting.

Victoria Ansell is fundraising for Action Medical Research (justgiving.com)

And watch this space for some training updates in the next little while!!