Suzanne, Rebecca, Vicky and Sandra from Ash Vale, Surrey (otherwise known as the Vale Venturers ) will test their stamina and endurance by taking part in Oxfam’s Trailwalker UK, this summer. 

Trailwalker was originally started by the Queens Gurkha Signals Regiment over 30 years ago as a training exercise to test soldiers’ stamina and teamwork skills. The Challenge is to complete the 100km Trailwalker trail, across the South Downs, in under 30 hours in teams of four. Taking part in this epic challenge, participants will raise money to help people in poverty to make a better life for themselves through the work of Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. 

So, what would possess four women to add to their daily to-do-list a toe blistering training regime that will end in a grueling thirty-hour trek in the middle of July? 

Leading the team is Sue, affectionately known as the motivator. Her friend completed the walk last year and Sue thought, “It doesn’t sound too bad!” So, she set about getting together a team of like-minded people who wanted to take on the challenge. Becky and Sue’s husbands are part of another team called “No Direction” - so some good-natured rivalry has already begun. Sandra’s husband will be the team’s Support Crew Leader – making tea, tending blisters and keeping morale up! 

“We are all very determined people. We share a love of the outdoors and have similar interests and we can talk to each other for hours! We hope to gain a huge sense of achievement from completing the walk and a massive confidence boost. We will be challenging our bodies and minds and we will hopefully raise a large amount of money for charity whilst doing something we all enjoy. We all believe it is important to do things for ourselves without the children, but we do try to do most of our training during school time so there is still time for family fun at the weekends.

Our children think we are crazy walking 100 km but they also think it’s pretty amazing. Our eldest boys aged 9,8 and 7 will be joining us on a 10 mile walk on Good Friday and are hoping to raise sponsorship that will go towards our team total for Oxfam.

Our families and friends have been very supportive. They have been helping with babysitting, fundraising events and sponsorship and even accompanying us on walks. We have been really touched by their help and encouragement.”