A TEAM of three from Frome, including We Hear You (WHY) CEO Lucy Kitchener and fundraising manager Ruth Knagg, have just completed a three-day trekking challenge in Iceland, in aid of cancer counselling charity WHY.
The team had already raised more than £10,500 before setting off on Wednesday 8th March, and managed to raise an incredible £11,000 in total.
The trek took in Lake Þingvallavatn, Iceland’s largest natural lake, Vörðuskeggi mountain pass and a geothermal valley, before some well-deserved downtime in Reykjavik, the world’s most northerly capital city. The question is, will they have seen the Northern Lights (recently spotted in Somerset and Wiltshire)?
Fundraising and communications manager Gemma Wilkes said, “Our CEO Lucy Kitchener has definitely celebrated her first anniversary with the charity in style, and we’re so delighted with the fantastic amount Lucy, Ruth and Carys have raised for WHY.
“This trek isn’t an easy undertaking, and we imagine they’re pretty tired right now, but we hope they’ve had an amazing personal experience – literally putting the ‘fun’ in fundraising! We already have four participants signed up for the Iceland trek in 2024.
“If you’d like to know more, visit wehearyou.org.uk/events and download the brochure for this once-in-a-lifetime trip, knowing that you’d also be helping us provide our vital services to the children, adults and families who need them.”
Ruth Knagg said, “Visiting Iceland was awesome in the proper sense of the word. It’s not just a cheesy marketing slogan when they call it the ‘land of fire and ice’ – totally unlike anywhere else I have ever been. The trekking was tough at times, one day slithering on and around patches of rock-hard ice to reach a hot river almost at the top of a mountain pass, where it seemed the most counter-intuitive thing to take off your clothes and put on a swimming costume! Truly amazing.
“By the time we had got dressed again afterwards (which was pretty darned speedy), our swimming costumes had frozen stiff in the bitter wind.
“Our group were a wonderful, varied bunch of 16 people from many different walks of life and I am quite sure that we will all stay in touch after our experience. I would recommend this challenge to anyone looking for an adventure – and of course raise money for WHY!”
More information about challenge events for WHY can be found at https://www.wehearyou.org.uk/events/.
For information about We Hear You’s free, specialist emotional support for children and adults affected by cancer, visit wehearyou.org.uk, call 01373 455255 or email info@wehearyou.org.uk.
Pictured: The WHY team walking across ice.
Pictured: The WHY team enjoying a well-earned break.
