In 1982 at age 22 Elspeth set off on a solo motorbike trip around the world. The journey took her 2.5 years and she covered a distance of 48,000 miles taking in the sites of North America, Australasia, Asia & Europe. 

This was all done in the age before mobile phones and internet. During her travels Elspeth rode through post-revolutionary Iran during the war with Iraq. She survived life threatening illnesses and numerous accidents. She witnessed civil uprisings that delayed her journey and forced her to fake documents to cross brokers.

This is one hell of a story not to be missed!

Show notes

• How would Elspeth introduce herself
• Understanding more about her childhood
• Being encouraged to explore and push the boundaries
• Going to boarding school at a young age and being expelled at 16
• How she found her love of motorcycles
• Buying her first bike and understanding the travel potential of having a motorbike
• Doing what she wanted to do
• Going on a 10 week trip with her brother, riding across America
• What she feels when she rides her bike and why she loves it
• Finding out in 2006 that she was the first woman to ride around the world
• Having a painful breakup, feeling lost and needing a distraction
• Working in a pub to save £2,500 for her round the world trip
• Feeling nervous and not having a clue what she was doing
• The challenge of the unknown and why she liked it
• What her friends were saying when she told people about her trip
• The fears she had to deal with before she left
• Highlights from America and why she loved New Orleans
• Flying to Hawaii and then on to New Zealand hitchhiking around the North & South Island
• Arriving in Sydney with $50 in her pocket
• Having nothing to fall back on and having to rely on herself
• Her trip around Australia and heading over to Asia
• Feeling separate from other travellers and never feeling like she belonged
• Going for weeks without speaking English
• Being followed and started at while travelling around India
• Crossing the borders into Iran and Pakistan
• Getting Hepatitis 
• Coping with the stress of daily travel and the, not knowing what was going to happen next
• Being ready to head home and the reality of getting back to London
• What happened with Robert after they came back to the UK
• Why you should just go on that trip and do that challenge

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

7 Women - 7 Challenges PART 4

At the start of 2017 after feedback from the Tough Girl Tribe. I started 7 Women - 7 Challenges.

Throughout the year I will be interviewing 7 women as we follow them on their journey of going after their own personal challenges.

We will learn what really has to happen for people to achieve their goals, we will hear about their frustrations, disappointments, set backs, as well as their successes and achievements. 

It is real stories, from real women, living real lives.

Schedule of future episodes

Part 1 - 1st January LIVE

Part 2 - 12th February LIVE

Part 3 - 2nd April LIVE

Part 4 - 28th May LIVE

Part 5 - 1st October

Part 6 - 19th November

Part 7 - 31st December

Show notes

Rae Red

• Feeling a bit weird in January
• Finding out she was pregnant!
• Knackered, dealing with morning sickness
• Stopping training
• Going on a mental roller coaster
• Not being able to tell people
• Moving house & being surrounded by boxes
• Processing the news
• Being angry
• Going through a grieving process
• BREAK
• Struggling with mental health 
• Walking everyday
• Publishing her blog posts
• Feeling lonely while pregnant
• Making her pregnancy her own experience
• The first 3 months
• Round ligament pain
• Pregnancy Yoga via Youtube
• Not fighting against it
• The elephant in the room!
• Heartburn
• The London Marathon Ballot!
• Being due early October
• Plans for the future.. new business idea
• Ice climbing in February?
• How her diabetes has been affected by being pregnant
• Having a starvation test
• Eating a banana a day..
• Trying to stay positive
• Why you need to reach out to people
• Starting with her blog - howdoesshedoit.com

Laura Try

• Listening back to part 3 of the podcast and crying about it
• Being on the edge of nearly giving up
• How it has all changed….
• Getting a main sponsor!
• Going to a business networking meeting every week #BNI
• Asking for a dream referral and wanting to speak to Russell Quirk
• 6 week later being told he will be at the meeting
• Should she mention the rowing trip?
• Doing her research.. taking a deep breath and saying hello!
• Going for it!
• £2,000 to go
• Becoming numb to emotion and not being able to feel anything
• Why the challenge is not about rowing GB
• Getting excited!!
• Give some love to www.emoo.co.uk
• Why it’s more than just the money
• Getting physical and emotional support
• Being a New World Record Holder!!!
• Being a member of the Sub 7 Rowing Club 
• Saying “YES”
• The world record row!
• Fitness before the challenge…. & not being able to train properly for the past few months
• £150 club? Still an option?
• The plan to get the final £2k
• Donations have stopped since she got a main sponsor
• Guest speaking gigs - which is ticking a few boxes
• Exhausted, scatter brain, forgetting things, never being so tired in her life!
• Taking time off….
• Moving house on Monday - 5 days before she goes rowing!
• Having a job for when she comes back!
• Starting her row on the 3rd June!
• Mental skills coaching
• Why it’s all about imagery!
• Getting excited!!
• 8 weeks - follow along with Laura via her social media channels
• It’s so easy!!

Jen Dykhoorn

• What’s been happening since we last spoke!
• Moving countries and living in Stockholm
• Getting to travel more
• Experiencing Spring twice!
• What she loves about Stockholm
• Signing up for an Ultra Marathon in July (Eco Trail Ultra Marathon)
• Doing long runs at the weekend and cycling to work everyday
• Tips for running on new trails, using iPhones and having a back up plan
• MapMyRun.com
• Getting the balance right between running and cycling while training
• Using the ultra as a training exercise
• Doing what she can do
• Being prepared as much as she can while maintaining everything else in her life
• Structured Reflection from using the Passion Planner
• Having fewer obligations in Stockholm and being able to choose what she wants to do
• Struggling with anxiety and why her tools helps her to create space
• Dealing with the stress and pressure from work
• Everyday magic goals!
• Making music once a week! Taking up the harmonica
• The 100 Day Challenge!
• Tips for meditation 
• Planning for LEJOG - mapping and accommodation
• Getting excited for her challenge!
• Her goals for the coming weeks
• Heading off to Budapest for a weekend getaway 

Jo Jo Rogers

• Dealing with injury
• Focusing on recovery
• Being angry with her injury
• Getting a new rescue dog and training her to get use to cars
• The frustration of not being able to run
• Being able to get out to Texas to race!
• Not pushing on her running, until race day
• Heading down to Dallas, and getting to see her son as well
• Running on cement in the heat!
• Carrying her own hydration and not needing to stop at the aid stations
• 3 loop course of 10.33 mile course
• Not having a time goal or a place goals
• Assessing the other runners on the start line
• Her goal for the race and wanting to run even laps
• 1 hr 30 mins for each loop - finishing 2nd women!!
• Women placed - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th!
• “Go the Girls!!” 
• The challenges during the race… 
• Running the last 3 miles faster and making an effort to stay over pace
• Feeling fully recovered
• Plans for the summer months
• Sleep & nutrition
• Meeting Jo Jo in Maine
• Her B Goal - To run the fastest 50K for women over 50
• Being the 2nd fastest female in the US for running 50K in 2016
• Her C Goal - To get a PB in a 50K
• Her 50k PB - 4 hr 5mins

Georgie Akin-Smith

• 2 challenges done
• Injury update…
• Not being able to run London Marathon (but being able to defer it to next year)
• Focus on cycling and 2 cycling challenges completed
• What was going through her head before Mallorca 312
• The pressure of having a cut off time of 14 hours and trying to do the distance in that time
• The start line
• Not sleeping well the night before and having a 5 am wake up call
• Dealing with mountains from the start of the course
• Eating every half an hour - which became harder and harder as the time went on
• Getting to 290K 
• Dealing with the nerves and excitement at the start of the race
• Race tactics
• The hills!
• Deciding to carry on and not stop at the 220
• The final 2 hours of the race and why they were so hard - mentally
• Having not choice but to carry on (having a few tears)
• What she’s learnt from the Mallorca experience
• Going to the extremes of her mental and physical fitness
• Pushing herself and gaining confidence from the experience
• 2 week rest and then cycling from London to Paris
• Cycling with Laura Kennington
• Meeting10 new people and having a lose plan for the cycle
• Having a MRI scan on her hip and being able to start running again
• Racing to the finish line to make it in 24hrs!
• Making changes to her 12 challenges
• Doing a Tough Mudder with her parents in August
• Having more of a focus on running and cycling
• Getting to a good place with cycling and training for her next 100 mile race in July
• Is she still enjoying herself?
• Making the challenges work for her and her lifestyle
• Why you can achieve more than you think

Gemma Smith - Adventures of a Novice Mountaineer

• What’s Gemma has been up to
• Climbing the Cosmiques Arête, how it came about and what it is
• Why she decided to do it
• Taking advantage of the weather and managing to get some skiing in
• Fitness while climbing at altitude 
• What she’s learnt from climbing the Cosmiques Arête and how she will be able to apply it to future challenges
• Building her confidence and gaining reassurance from the experience
• Getting a new climbing partner
• Climbing with a para climber and how it’s made her think differently
• Getting half way up a 7a
• London Ladies Climb - FB Group
• How her personal training is coming along
• What she’s focusing on with her training 
• Getting tickets for the ARC’TERYX CLIMBING ACADEMY
• Going on a mountain clean up
• Having to give up on May as a training month
• Working brutal hours and struggling to get the balance
• Feeling guilt about not training
• Having to speak to her boss about her work
• Plans for the coming months
• Bullet Journal….
• Trying to get a routine back in her life
• Not managing to make it to Scotland
• The Sandstone Trail…on the list for July to test her endurance
• Making a commitment and learning when to step back
• Making more time for herself
• Blogging… having more stuff to publish

Rachel Wise

• Summary from the last 2 months
• The big things have been done
• A family will be able to take the house furnished
• A home has been found for the dog
• Sorting out her job and speaking to her boss
• Having the difficult conversation
• Feeling relief that people now know
• Running the Geneva Marathon!
• Being ready for the next one!
• Running her own race, and running at a steady pace
• Pushing the dark throughs aside
• How the children are coping with the upcoming changes
• How Rachel is feeling about the trip
• Not being super excited and more focused on getting things organised
• Trying to save money and make money
• Her experience with Air BnB
• Dealing with back to back bookings
• Renting the whole house out for July
• Prices 
• Trying to fit it all in
• Money and the budget..
• Heading off in August!
• The girls education for while on the road
• The jobs that have to be done before they head off
• The website - slowtravelfamily.com
• Wanting to write more and share more blogs
• What she hopes will have happened by October

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

You can listen to the Tough Girl Podcast on the go via iTunes, Soundcloud & Stitcher!

After 6 years of living a 9-5 lifestyle, she had had enough. She was fed up of being stressed and overworked and had a mountain of baggage to contend with. She was burnt out, didn’t sleep well, was over-thinking all the time and had bouts of depression. She didn’t feel healthy.

So, she decided to make a change. She quit her job, signed up to do a few challenges and…..here she is! Adventuring, travelling and living her absolute dream life.

Since leaving her job she has completed the 240km London Loop on an adult kick scooter, sailed across the North Sea and hiked 1000km the full length of Israel. 

Show notes

• Where Bex is at the moment
• Going to Africa at 18 where she got the travel bug
• Settling into adult life and getting a regular job as a teacher
• Making the decision to quit her life and go travelling full time
• Making another big change in her life for the second time
• Having a small amount of savings 
• Making money while on the go
• Deciding to head off to hike 1,000km the full length of Israel
• Getting herself sorted before she headed off
• Logistics and planning for the trail
• Having her honeymoon at Burning Man Festival
• The challenges of her hike
• 2 months hiking with her husband and hiking separately
• What Scoop the Loop is!
• Not spending any money on the challenge
• Winning the Next Challenge Grant! 
• Wild Camping in a residential urban environment
• Sailing back from Sweden with Tall Ships
• Getting sea sick for the first 24 hrs
• How she decides where she will go travelling
• The struggles she has to face being a nomad and travelling all the time
• Working longer hours than she would in a normal job
• Living with uncertainty and not knowing when your next going to be making money
• Starting - “Love Her Wild” with her friend Alex
• Being inspired by Beth Rodden - climbing when pregnant 
• The Mentor Scheme and why it came about
• What challenge is on her bucket list!
• Looking for her next big adventure
• How she decides what to do next
• Planning and working with her husband
• Japan highlights!
• Advice if you do want to quit your job
• Why you should listen to your gut and your instincts!
• Why I got rid of my stuff  #minimalism
• Her top piece of adventuring kit - good boots and good socks!
• Getting a good night sleep!
• Get in contact with Bex via her blog
• Why you should go and visit loveherwild.com 

Social Media

Website - The Ordinary Adventurer & loveherwild.com

Facebook

Twitter - @Bex_Band 

Instagram - @_theordinaryadventurer

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

Phoebe Smith is an adventurer, author, editor, presenter, speaker and filmmaker.

By day she is award-winning editor of Wanderlust Travel Magazine, travel writer and presenter, by night she’s an extreme sleeping outdoors adventurer who thrives on heading off to the wildest locations she can find to sleep in the strangest places she can seek out.

She was the first person to sleep at all the extreme points of mainland Britain – including the centremost point – which she did solo, on consecutive nights in 2014. 

She has completed the Three Peaks Sleeps Challenge – in which she overnighted on the summits of the highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland. She is also the author of 7 books including the bestselling Extreme Sleeps: Adventures of a Wild Camper,Wilderness Weekends: Wild Adventures in Britain's Rugged Corners  and the first ever guidebook to Britain’s free-to-stay-in mountain shelters –Book of the Bothy.

Show Notes

• Backpacks & her favourite Lowe Alpine pack
• How Phoebe would introduce herself and why she lives something of a double life…
• Inspiring people to travel to new places 
• Doing a feature on the Appalachian trail and how you can fit in the best bits of the trail in 2 weeks
• Being a tourist in her own backyard the UK
• Why adventure doesn’t have to be extreme
• Growing up close to Snowdonia National Park and taking it for granted
• Not knowing what she wanted to do with her life
• Working in Australia for a year and how sleeping in a swag bag in the “red centre” change her perspective on the outdoors
• Finding strange places to sleep throughout the world
• Trying wild camping
• Her fist solo wild camping experience 
• Dealing with the naysayers
• Having adventures in the UK
• 2014 - The sleeping challenge!
• Seeing a cloud inversion 
• Dealing with the rubbish on the top of the Ben Nevis 
• Getting people to appreciate their local beauty spots
• The history of the bothy and becoming a bothy bagger!
• The Book of the Bothy - 26 of her favourite shelters spread out through Britain
• Her first book - The Camper’s Friend and how it came about via twitter!
• Practical tips for people going camping
• “Enjoy not endure”
• Creating a hot water bottle
• Tentertainment….
• Why it ok to just stop and “just allowing yourself to be”
• Wild Camping in Scotland and the changes to the by-laws and how it can impact you
• Take your rubbish with you and leave no trace
• What people should do, to help support this campaign
• Ordnance Survey 2016 and 2017 - Get Outside Champion #GetOutside
• Why you should learn to map read
• How she’s applied what she’s learned from the outdoors to her own life
• Getting angry with herself whilst facing a dangerous river crossing
• Her 8th book!! Britons Best Small Hills  - ***Coming 1st September***
• Final words of wisdom 
• “You don’t find the time, you make the time”
• Creating your own go bag!!

Social Media

Twitter @PhoebeRSmith

Instagram @phoebersmith

Website: www.phoebe-smith.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ExtremeSleeps

Check out her latest books at: 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phoebe-Smith/e/B0070LP2N2

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

Dr Laura Gush is a patron of the Tough Girl Podcast, a member of the Tough Girl tribe and a phenomenal runner. She’s raced in The Iron Man, Marathon Des Sables and a number of ultra races and marathons.

Laura took a year off her medical career in 2015 and took that time to get her personal training qualifications and race in the Marathon Des Sables. Laura shares what she does to train for a race and how her educational perspective had an impact on her running.

We talk about how Laura got into running with no background in sports and what her future challenges will be.

Show Notes

• Growing up in South Wales with a musical background
• Running in the 2008 London Marathon
• Training for her first marathon
• Getting shin splints and underestimating the challenge
• Becoming like the people you’re closest to
• Deciding to participate in The Ironman
• Laura’s strategy for getting through The Ironman Mallorca
• Running a marathon while feeling terrible
• How being a doctor affects Laura’s running
• What it felt like to be an Ironman
• Balancing running with her medical career
• Taking time off her career to run in the Marathon Des Sables
• Creating her own training schedule with back to back runs
• Running her first Ultra in the freezing cold
• Laura’s tips and tricks for getting through a difficult race
• Getting to the desert and getting ready before the race
• Learning from her experience in the desert
• Balancing holding yourself back and pushing yourself forward
• Wanting to repeat the Marathon des Sables
• Running the Druid Ultra and getting injured
• Struggling with rest and recovery
• Running a 100-mile race 6 days after the London Marathon
• Recognising that failure makes things ok and that it’s a choice
• Getting past the experience of giving up on a race
• Competing in the brutal Ironman Wales in 2016
• The highlight of the Ironman Wales
• What Laura enjoys most about marathons and ultra

“Every time I push myself forward a little further, I realise what I can do.”

• Laura’s race schedule for 2017 - The Boston Marathon
• Doing things that scare you - Laura and South Africa

Social Media

www.drgpt.co.uk

Instagram - @doctor_eat_sleep_run_rpt

Twitter - @drlauragush

Facebook - @drlgpt

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

Last year Georgina Cleere Won the Women’s Soloist title at Revolve24 2016 completing 127 laps (305 miles) and climbing 8,128m (26,670 feet).

Show Notes

• Her childhood and adventures with horses, including her very own Mr Darcy
• Finding her feet again through losing her horse and her father being ill
• Starting to ride a bike through the Cycle to Work Scheme
• Finding a cycle club and the surprises of going cycling with experienced bikers
• Discovering the buzz of cycling and getting into the sport
• Entering her first Sportive and overcoming her nerves about riding 60 miles for the first time!
• Handling the doubts and worries about rides, and keeping her spirits up
• Taking on even longer distances with some friends, and discovering a love of pushing her boundaries
• Saving her bottom! Sharing her tips for avoiding a sore bottom from hours in the saddle.
• Revolve 24 as a team and deciding to go solo
• Cycling powered by rice pots and wotsits!
• Breaking up the 24hours and keeping herself going 
• Her race strategy and her surprise win at Revolve 24
• Her dream challenge for the future – RAAM!
• Aiming high for the Ultramarathon Cyclists Association
• Fitting everything in within the day between life and training
• Starting to train with a coach and the difference the structure has made, learning to push herself in new ways
• Her tips for getting into cycling as a woman if you’re nervous

Social Media

Say hi to Gina on twitter - @GinaCleere1

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs. 

Cheryl Strayed is the author of four books, including the #1 New York Times Bestseller, Wild. Through her book, she shares her journey of hiking Pacific Crest Trail at 22 years old and dealing with the grief of losing her mother.

These events changed the course of Cheryl’s life and took her on an incredible adventure along the Pacific Crest Trail. It wasn’t until 10 years later that Cheryl shared her experience in a memoir.

As a writer, Cheryl has been committed to the power of story all her life. In our conversation, she reflects on her childhood and what’s changed since she’s become a mother herself. She shares her experience of personal transformation, what it was like publishing Wild, and what happened after sharing her book.

Show Notes

• Growing up with a young mum and witnessing abuse
• Learning to live ‘rich in love’ from her mother
• Being a mother and how it’s changed her perspective
• Dealing with the loss of her mother and leading up to the PCT
• Deciding to hike the PCT from a place of weakness

“I knew that the wild places made me feel most full.”

• Writing the book 10 years later
• Figuring out who she was throughout her life
• Having no one to rely on during her hike on the PCT and feeling empowered
• Finding transformation in wilderness, physical challenge, and solitude
• About ‘monster’, Cheryl’s backpack on the PCT
• Feeling lucky to have made mistakes during her hike

“I had to learn how to live with the truth of my life. I had to learn how to carry those things.”

• Being astounded by the beauty of the PCT and feeling gratitude
• Understanding what was important about writing Wild
• What it felt like having her personal story read by people around the world

“You have to be fearless when it comes to writing the truth.”

• The values of a writer and how that helped Cheryl share her story
• Dealing with people who don’t like her books
• Teaching her kids to have emotional intelligence
• Using the outdoors to cope with the emotional ups and downs
• Having a revelation that grief is always with us and learning to live with it
• What it was like finishing her hike of the PCT
• Deciding what’s next after a big adventure
• Meeting her husband 9 days after her hike
• Sharing other people’s stories while telling her own
• Being a writer mum and teaching her kids
• Telling herself, “I’m not afraid.”
• Sarah’s Appalachian Trail challenge
• The pros and cons of being connected during an adventure
• How Cheryl met Oprah
• Measuring your success by doing all you can do
• Watching Wild for the first time
• Considering the ‘flawed’ label
• Cheryl’s words of advice for people going through struggles

“Even the hardest times are only a moment. They are one part of a whole life.”

Social Media

Keep up with Cheryl on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook and at www.cherylstrayed.com

Feeling inspired week after week? 

You can do 3 easy things to help me continue to grow the podcast!

1. Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, so you won’t miss a single episode
2. If you’re loving the podcast, please leave a 5-star review on iTunes! I read every single comment!
3. Share the podcast with your friends, especially if you think it could help them, and spread the #ToughGirlPodcast love. 

Your support helps me continue to grow the podcast and do inspiring things in this space! Already done all 3? You’re a rockstar! Thank you!

Want to do more?

Please become a Patron and donate a small fixed amount every month to help fund the runnings costs.