Almost £1,000

Am repeating a post of last year as I have almost reached the £1,000 mark in my fund raising albeit for Cuba this year!

Most of this has been through bag packing at Marks and Spencers who have been so supportive.  It is such fun packing bags, dressed as a daffodil and most importantly, having your friends there packing with you and supporting you all the way.

We also had a very successful fashion show and I will post some photographs here.  It was an awesome experience even down to taking Mandy and I approximately 3 hours to choose for outfits for the runway and then having to go back and choose another 2 outfits each.

The grand total for the fashion show was £806.13 which was incredible for a 2 hour show.  I think Matalan did quite well with their sale of clothes afterwards also. 

I totally loved being a model, strutting my stuff on the catwalk and would do it again in a minute if I got the chance.  I am sure Mandy would also.

Being a volunteer for Marie Curie is so much fun as it opens up doors of opportunities for you that you just would not get did you not volunteer.  I would recommend it to anyone!



I AM OFF AGAIN

So, I completed the trek for the Grand Canyon in 2011 and the total amount raised by 44 of us for Marie Curie was £176,000.  Absolutely a phenomenal amount.

I have decided along with Mandy, my friend who I met on Grand Canyon trek, to trek Cuba this year.  I will attach the Itinerary here.

Day 1 - UK to Havana

We depart the UK from Edinburgh International Airport, arriving into Havana, Cuba. We transfer to our hotel for a welcome meal and briefing on the challenge ahead.

Day 2 - Havana to Topas De Collantes

We have a 5 hour transfer from our hotel in Havana to our base for the week, Topas De Collantes, in the heart of the Escambray Mountains. Our route takes us through the historic centre of Trinidad - a UNESCO world heritage site.

Day 3 - La Hacienda Codina, 6-7 hours’ trekking

Today is the first day of trekking, starting off early in the morning towards La Hacienda Codina, an old coffee estate. We will be trekking along unspoilt trails through areas of spectacular beauty, with great views of the Ancon peninsula. After lunch at the hacienda we start the return trek back to our hotel.

Day 4 - Casa De La Gellega, 7-8 hours’ trekking

Today our route takes us through incredible forest landscapes, full of history and local culture. We stop for lunch at a local house before continuing on towards the stunning waterfalls of El Salto del Rocio. From here we continue trekking towards the coffee-growing community of Charco Azul before the return trip to our hotel.

Day 5 - Parque Caburni, 6 hours’ trekking

Today is a tough day trekking as we head towards the Salto de Caburni waterfall. From here we continue on towards Parque Caburni with a spectacular 150m waterfall. The terrain today is steep, but takes us through the lush landscape full of wildlife. Our trek finishes for the day at Comunidad 28 Septiembre where we are transferred back to the hotel.

Day 6 -Parque El Cubano, 5 hours’ trekking

After breakfast we leave for the long trek to the protected area of Parque El Cubano. We take the Guanmuhaya route through lovely forest with stunning views of the Escambray Mountains. The route takes us along the path to Pez Cato farm where we stop for lunch. We continue on to the road head to meet our transfers back to the hotel.

Day 7- La Batata, 4 hours’ trekking

Our last trekking day takes us to La Batata, and incredible cave that highlights the ecological value of the reserve. The final leg of the trek takes us to lunch at Mi Retiro before we return to our hotel.

Day 8 - Havana

Today we return to Havana where we take a walking tour of the city. The rest of the day is free to explore before a meal together to celebrate our achievements.

Day 9 - Havana to UK

We have the morning free in Havana before our transfers to the airport for our return flight home.

Day 10 - UK

We arrive back in Edinburgh.

UPDATES

It has been a while since I blogged here as I have been over rambling in my "Ramblings".  Quite a few things have happened since I last blogged including the arrival of my 45 litre rucksack and set of walking poles - with compass on the top YES - all courtesy of the bargains you can sometimes find on Ebay.

My total amount raised is now standing at almost £1,500 which is fantastic considering I still have several months left to continue raising money.  I am still hopeful of breaking through the £3,000 barrier as there are quite a few events upcoming.  My friend Marion is going to help me at the Summer School Fete where we are having a stall which will include guessing the number of sweets in a jar (always a favourite with kids) and guess the weight of the watermelon, amongst other things.

Training is going well.  I am breaking the boots in slowly.  I have found that I can power walk for at least 1/2 hour before I start to feel a nip at my toes.  If I walk slower, I can walk for about an hour.  I kind of figure that power walking not only blasts my weight better and builds up my stamina but it also proves that if I can walk quickly for half an hour and travel some distance, I can walk slower and double that distance and so far my theory is paying off.  I am combining hills, flat walking, slopes, pavements, grass etcetera into my routes and it is becoming easier.  I really can see now why it is so important to break the boots in thoroughly before you leave for the trek. 

With the better weather coming in now I am trying to walk at least 1/2 an hour each day just to break in the boots.  I will then start pushing for the longer walks.  To trek the Canyon you must be comfortable walking 10 miles.  For me, that would mean walking around Arthur's Seat here in Edinburgh three times.

I am eating a healthy well balanced diet but I am also taking Acai Extreme at present and that is working wonders with my dieting and exercising in aiding weight loss.

I felt a twinge in my butt today which was not very pleasant so I cut my walk down to just 45 minutes and am hoping it will feel better later on today.

Well I guess that is the update done and dusted for now.  If you ever feel like reading my other blog please feel free.

Laters xxxx

£1000

I cannot believe it.  The page has just been running for over a month and I am now £19 away from my first £1,000.  How exciting is that. 

I must extend my thanks to the Johnson Foundation who believe in me and have supported me.

I am very blessed to have such wonderful people who know just how much of the work Marie Curie does and just how much it is a fantastic Charity to donate to.

GOOD RESPONSE

I have had a very good response via email today regarding people (mostly MP's) who will make a personal donation and pass on details to their colleagues which I am very happy about obviously.  The £500 mark is very tantalizingly near and after that has been exceeded it is down to concentrating on the first £1,000 mark.

I am very proud with myself for the fact that I am still not smoking and donating £10 to the Charity each week. I rather naively thought that the Charity received all the money we raised but in fact some of the money raised is your travelling costs, accommodation etcetera.  At least by paying £10 per week of my own money, I am offsetting the costs a little. 

I am off walking again tomorrow with my friend who is a great walking partner and it is doing her the world of good to get outside, have some fresh air and help her lose weight - which is what she is looking to do.  We have found a fantastic walk that involves a little hill climbing (not too much as of yet) and walking down hills through woods.  All in all it is a lovely walk with a stream running down the middle.  I shall try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow and post here.

My Uncle is fundraising very well on my behalf as are my parents and a friend who is doing a sponsored walk.  I am truly blessed to have so many kind, caring people who really want to push me to succeed and succeed I shall.

Going It Alone

Technically the heading of this post is incorrect.  I am not going it alone to the Grand Canyon as there will be many trekkers (approximately 35) trekking in aid of Marie Curie.

However, Cheryl and I have decided to raise our funds separately.  So accordingly we are both "Going It Alone" when it comes to fundraising.

I wish her every success and I myself shall continue to blog here and continue to raise as much money for Marie Curie as is possible.

Remembrance

When you first complete the registration forms with Marie Curie for a trek/adventure/fundraising scheme, they ask you if you wish to walk in remembrance of anyone.  I left it blank as there are so many people now gone who I wish to remember.

It would have been far too difficult for me to fit the names of all the people I wanted to remember into a form.

My Auntie Mary who died in Marie Curie when I was just a teenager and last year, a very, very sad time when one of my very best friends lost her mother, again, in Marie Curie.  I have blogged about that friend before due to the fact that I knew she was always able to be "herself" around me and I would never have treated her any different.  I remember the night her mum passed away, I received a simple text saying "mum's gone........." it brings tears to my eyes now to even think about last summer.

A friend of mine who has suffered so much through losing her brother (not to cancer but a horrific death anyway) and her mother this year, who I think did not even get the chance to have the care of Marie Curie.

My friend and her family had a bench with her mother's name on it put up on Blackford Hill staring right out over the City of Edinburgh straight to Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags (a picture of which you can see above). 

The above image is what you see from the top of Blackford Hill.  I visited that bench the other day whilst out training for my Grand Canyon trek. There is something very peaceful at this spot.  Something very poignant and it makes me feel at peace to sit down on the bench and stare out over the City.

I remember clearly going to collect the ashes with my friend.  It was all so surreal though as we chose a biodegradable box shaped as a love heart and then the ashes were moved into this box and we "carried" my friend's mother in my car.  We laughed a lot that day.  Strange, that you would laugh when you are moving the remnants of a loved one around from place to place.  Perhaps laughing was the best way for us both to deal with what we were doing.  So, I guess if I were to walk for anyone, it would be my friend's mother.

However, things have taken a turn for the worse regarding my partner's mum.  I guess it is okay for me to call him my partner but perhaps it would be more prudent to call him my soul mate as that is what he truly is.  His mum is currently in Marie Curie, Edinburgh and it is highly unlikely she will return home.  I think every day left for her now is truly a blessing for the family but what is it for her?  Not only does she suffer from cancer which has riddled her body, she also suffers from dementia and to be perfectly honest, perhaps that is the best thing as she really does not know what is happening to her.  However, the family do and that in itself is so tragic.

My soul mate is my boyfriend of my teenage years.  We got back together last year for a short time but it did not work out - nothing bad, it was probably just a little too soon after him splitting with his wife.  He adores his mother and although he says he is strong, I know he is dying inside and there is nothing I can do to take away that pain that he is feeling.  It cuts me up as I wish I had a magic wand - does'nt everybody sometime wish the same?

My post is called Remembrance because I simply plan to trek that Canyon for every single "daffodil" in the sky and pray to god that they find a cure for cancer very, very soon.