A University of Lincoln support worker is setting out on a trail to find a lost city, all in the aid of charity.
Learning and Development Coordinator Heather Upton (27) is raising money for Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, because she went there as a child.
“I went there a lot as a child and I had a lot of operations, but the support they offered me helped me get to where I am today.
“I want to give something back so children there have the same opportunities I did when I was a child.”
She will travel to the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, somewhere she always wanted to visit, as part of the hospital’s Inca Trek Challenge.
“It’s always been on my wish list of places to visit and to tie it in with a good cause would be just so amazing.”
The trek takes 10 days, and is a 50 kilometre journey through high remote mountain trails, climbing up to 4,200 meters.
Heather already has a basic idea of what she needs to do for her training to cope with the climbs.
“[The hospital gives] you a basic idea of what training you need to do and they say walking up and down stairs is a good idea.
“So working on the third floor [of the university] is a massive help. I go to the gym four or five times a week and I’m in cardio and weight training classes.”
The date Heather leaves for her walk is November 10, but needs to have raised most of the goal set by Great Ormond Street Hospital of £3,500 beforehand.
“I need to raise 75% of the money by September, but I have a lot of events still to come up. I’m planning to have a pub quiz and another bake sale, the last one I held raised £187.”
If you want to support Heather on her trek for Great Ormond Street, make a donation on her Just Giving page.
