Weymouth woman raises £25k hiking overseas for local hospice
Weldmar Hospicecare's Overseas challenge has proven so popular this year, they've added another date.
A woman from Weymouth has raised £25,000 for Weldmar Hospicecare by taking part in their overseas challenge multiple times.
Clare Ash is one of many hikers travelling to the Saharan desert for this year's challenge, which she says will push her out of her comfort zone.
She's raised the whopping £25k figure over the course of three overseas challenges, which she started after losing a family member.
She said:
"What I've tended to do, rather than go full-on with one fundraising event, I've done several so I've drip-fed into one fundraising pot and over the years I've done things like selling reindeer dust which I've done at Christmas, collected some money and then p[ut it towards if I'm going to do another trek."
Clare has done three treks now, starting with Iceland seven years ago. The challenge then took her to Mont Blanc and Nepal. She explained how it all started:
"My dear cousin Wendy, who was just 50, had been diagnosed with cancer - wasn't much more they could do - and my aunt and uncle are far away from me.
"Heard on the radio there was this Icelandic trip that had been set up for our local hospice. I'm not somebody who's into fitness, but I thought 'Iceland? I fancy that. I'm going to look into it.
"That was a very different experience, doing something outside of my comfort zone, joining 9 or 10 other people I didn't know before, and trekking Iceland.
"It was an incredible experience, and clearly I loved it because I went on to do a second walk."
Now Clare is encouraging more people to take part ahead of this year's Saharan trek. She added:
"I think in life we've got to take some challenges and you go away with people you didn't think you'd be likeminded with, or even have the same interests, and you come back and you really do believe you've gained a great deal from it.
"It is something you wouldn't have done before."
This year's Saharan trek which takes place in November has proven so popular that another date in March 2023 has been added so nobody misses out.
Alaine Harman from Weldmar’s fundraising team has been blown away by the reaction to the Sahara Desert trek. She said:
"I’m so pleased that we have thirty eager trekkers to take on this amazing challenge in November, but we didn’t want to disappoint anyone still keen to take part.
"By adding another date in March 2023 we’re giving people another opportunity to take on the challenge of a lifetime."
You can find out more at the Weldmar website.