Weybridge Town Business Group’s Gill Eastwood is Trekking The Great Wall of China for The John King Brain Tumour Foundation
Presentation of Cheque – £133,000 raised by The John King Brain Tumour Foundation
“Such an emotional, exciting day. Thanks to everyone’s incredible support, £133,000 was raised to purchase life enhancing microscope for St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Atkinson Morley. Used more than 1,200 times annually on operations it will change lives. Massive thanks to The John King Brain Tumour Foundation”
Social Media Post by King’s Fine Food, February 2019
The great Wall of China Trek contributed at least £27,000 towards this – congratulations and thanks to all involved.
I would firstly like to thank you all for sponsoring me on my recent Great Wall Trek. With your huge support, we managed to raise just over £27,000, which brings us close to purchasing the microscope for St George’s Hospital.
I thought you would like to see some of my photos – and my apologies for the delay in sending these out. For most of the trek we saw very few people, which is hard to believe in a country of 1.4 billion and the Wall being a huge tourist destination! But we felt privileged to walk parts that most tourists do not get to see; it was not easy by any means and a lot of it unrestored and crumbling, which posed challenges which at times were quite scary!
Day 1:
A lovely introduction to the Wall, this part being beautifully restored, and completed in glorious sunshine. Very interesting sandwich making with chopsticks and a spoon!
Day 2:
This was very difficult, not least because it poured heavily the entire day and I managed to drown my phone whilst trying to take photos! We walked on the oldest part of the Wall from the Han Dynasty – 221 BC. The evening was spent drying off followed by a lesson in Mahjong.
Day 3:
We had prepared for an ascent of the 306 steps and 70% gradient up the Stairway to Heaven but due to the rain the previous day we had to reverse our route and descend – not sure which was worse!
Day 4:
Trekking a remote part of the wall, spectacular views and hairy moments. Overnight in Mongolia and definitely the best food of the trek. No comment on the concrete beds or the interesting loo/shower combo, which was standard in all accommodation!
Day 5:
A day of very steep terrain, non-stop steps, 30 watch towers, intense heat – definitely living up to being a ‘challenge’!
Day 6:
WE DID IT!! 6 days, 98 km, 75 watch towers and a few sore feet.
There were parts today so steep we had to come down on our backsides but all for a good cause!
Thank you all again for your huge support – we can’t thank you enough.
Photos Of The Great Wall Of China Charity Trekkers – In Aid Of The John King Brain Tumour Foundation
Some of you will know me from the Weybridge Town Business Group and one of the organisers of the events we hold in the town. My son Tom runs Weybridge Sports.
On the 18th April a group of six amazing friends and myself will put on our hiking boots to trek 65km over six days on the Great Wall of China to raise money for the John King Brain Tumour Foundation.
John King was a dear friend and husband of my very good friend Laura. Sadly John passed away in November 2016 from a Glioblastoma tumour. Brain cancer research and development is seriously underfunded, receiving only 1% of all Government cancer research funding. We all wanted to do something to help others diagnosed with this dreadful disease.
All the money raised – I have paid my own travel expenses – through this tough challenge will go to the Atkinson Morley Hospital. We are aiming to buy the hospital a new microscope that sees further into the brain, have started to support research into brain tumours and the best type of chemotherapy treatment, and also to maintain the Neurosurgical Garden for patients at the hospital.
Training is going well albeit challenging, and I’m beginning to dislike the stair climber at the gym! Although 30 mins on this will be nothing compared to the eight hours a day we will spend on the Wall!
The Charity is very close to my heart not only because John was a very dear friend but also because I lost my brother to a brain tumour when he was only 39. If you would like to donate, I would be hugely grateful – it will make an enormous difference. You can either do this via JustGiving
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gillian-eastwood
Thank you for reading this and for your support. If you would like any further information on the charity please see below or let me know.
Best wishes
About The Charity – The John King Brain Tumour Foundation
The first major project is to raise £100,000 for a state-of-the-art Zeiss Pentero 900 surgical microscope. This microscope will allow more of a brain tumour to be removed during surgery. It is currently not available through NHS funding.
This equipment is the subject of the newspaper article below.
To learn more about the charity, please click on the logo above to visit the website.
Great Wall Of China Trek Video – Another Brick In The Wall
Here’s the website for the charity www.johnkingbraintumourfoundation.co.uk or use the Just Giving button above.
Photos Below – The Trekkers In Surrey – Getting Some Fitness Training In Preparation For The Charity Walk
Weybridge Town Business Group
Gill can be seen in the photo below sharing a joke with Sharron Ferrari and Cake-Off judges including TV Celebrity Ruth Langsford, who will again be presenting the prizes this year.
