A FORMER RAF medic is set to take on the South African wilderness later this year in a bid to raise £6000 for Help the Heroes.
Dianne McLeish is the voluntary area co-ordinator for the charity dedicated at providing assistance to men and women who served their country in war zones around the world.
Having faced a fair few challenges herself in a 33-year RAF career, Diane admits that this is the toughest task she has ever had to deal with – but with the best possible motivation.
“I wanted to set myself one real, major test before I turn 60 in February – and after looking at all the available options I went for the South Africa Wilderness Challenge,” Diane said, adding that at some point she may well need to ponder just what she had taken on.
She added: “I’ll deal with that later – but I have been training hard for this so I expect by November I will be able to complete the trek.”
Dianne has taken on several tasks in raising cash for wounded service personnel – including climbing Ben Nevis back in June. For her South African test she has been training hard with walks through the Cairngorms – including nights out under canvas.
She is well aware just how well prepared she needs to be for a trek through the varied and toughest landscape of hot desert and dense tropical bush, walking at altitude for around ten hours a day – but the rewards can be spectacular with the South African trek concluding at the top of the world-famous Table Mountain.
A bonus for Dianne is that as an entrant to the trek she has a chance of winning up to £10,000 for her cause through the Mountain Warehouse Challenge. That requires as many people as possible voting for Dianne – there is no charge involved, readers wishing to help need only visit the Mountain Warehouse page and vote!
Anyone who does wish to support Dianne on her South African venture can do so by going to her fundraising page.