Keshia Brennan, Physical Education and Sports Coaching Degree Programme Leader, will be climbing to Everest Base Camp with her wife in April, to raise funds for three charities close to the couples’ heart.
The couple are aiming to raise £5,000 and all funds will be split between the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, Sunderland Cat Rescue (Carole’s Cats), and Sunderland Flames Women’s Rugby Team.
Keshia explained: “My wife’s mum unfortunately passed away from Pancreatic Cancer when my wife was young so that charity is really important to us. My wife also absolutely loves cats – we've fostered about 100 cats over the past 10 years, and we both play for the Sunderland Flames Women’s Rugby Team, so that's why we chose the other two charities.
“As we want to raise as much as we can for each of the charities, we thought we’d better do something properly challenging. My wife suggested we climb the highest mountain in the world, or at least go to Base Camp. So, that’s what we’re doing.”
Students at Newcastle College are getting behind Keshia’s fundraising challenge and have devised a full week of fundraising events to try and help her reach her target.
She said: “I’ve been surprised by how much the students have wanted to help, especially the Uniformed Public Services students, who I don’t even teach! They’ve been getting tutors to agree to have sponges thrown at them, drawing up posters and arranging a beat the keeper competition, as well as a five-a-side tournament.
“Some degree students will also be doing a ‘Trek to Everest’ challenge, where they will work together to run, walk or cycle the same distance that we will be trekking to Everest Base Camp, while students on Sports Fitness and Personal Training courses will be running fitness tests on me.”
The challenge, which will be self-funded to ensure that all fundraising goes directly to charity, has taken years of planning, preparation and training.
Keshia continued: “The majority of our training has been hiking across the hills and mountains we have around here and in the Lake District. A lot of the research we’ve done says the most important thing is getting the mileage in and practicing walking across different terrains. We’ve also been doing a lot of hill training on the treadmills in the gym, wearing our day packs and the heavy boots we’ll be in, so we get used to the weight and feel of it.
“I’m really excited for the trip, especially as we started planning five years ago! The only thing I’m worried about is the altitude, but we’ve got a training trek up Mount Toubkal in Morocco soon, so hopefully that will make me feel a bit better about it.”
To find out more, and donate to the charities, visit Keshia’s fundraising page