Date: 14 May 2026 

90-year-old man dedicates ‘rest of his life’ to peace in a ten-year endurance challenge

On his 90th birthday, Gerald Drewett will begin what he is calling a ‘nineties odyssey’ to raise vital funds for Give Peace A Chance Trust and The Peace Museum in Bradford, repeating the challenge every year until his 100th birthday

A lifelong Quaker peaceworker is setting out on a decade-long walking challenge following his long-term mission to establish the only peace museum in the UK.  

Gerald Drewett, 90, hopes his annual challenge will help raise £30,000 each year to maintain The Peace Museum in Saltaire, Bradford, which he founded via the Give Peace A Chance Trust in 1998.

In what he calls ‘a nineties Odyssey’, he has pledged to complete 4,000 steps a day, or 28,000 steps a week, for the 90 days following his ninetieth birthday, and repeat this challenge every year until he turns 100. 

Each year, he will repeat the challenge and could potentially walk more than three million steps over the course of the decade.

He said: “I’m slightly daunted to take on this challenge because I don’t know how long my present good health will hold out, but I am determined to persevere. 

“I read and write about peace and social harmony from a spiritual point of view all the time, and I found myself challenged as I approached my ninetieth birthday by what more I  might do.  It crystallised as helping the Give Peace A Chance Trust increase the financial support it already gives to the museum."

“Completing this ten-year mission, if God lets me, means I am dedicating the rest of my life to bringing peace and social harmony to the forefront of the minds of people.  It truly feels like an Odyssey with the ultimate aim of bringing peace to the forefront of thinking in the twenty-first century and tackling a social lack of compassion.”

Gerald is steadfast in protecting The Peace Museum, which is the only institution dedicated to the history of non-violence and social harmony. His mission started in 1986 when he formed the Give Peace A Chance Trust with the ultimate aim of creating a peace museum.

Although he is no longer actively involved in running the museum, the money raised will go directly to further developing its education programmes at the museum and within schools and local communities.

He added: “The Peace Museum in Bradford is a vital educational space helping people understand why peace and social harmony is something that has to be worked at.”

Gerald’s challenge will commence on his 90th birthday on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, when he will walk 4,000 steps every day, or 28,000 steps every week for 90 consecutive days. In the following ten years, he will allow for a 5% deduction to account for increasing age.

The museum is currently situated at the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Salt’s Mill, Saltaire, Bradford, peacemuseum.org.uk.

For more information and to support Gerald in his ‘Nineties Odyssey’, visit www.gpactrust.uk

ENDS

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