Many of us may have set our sights on doing more exercise this year as part of our New Year’s Resolutions, but a dog lover from Swindon has set her sights on something rather larger – the Great Wall of China, which she will be trekking to raise money for dogs in need.
Peggy-Sue Ford of Swindon has been inspired to take on the epic challenge by her rescue dog Jack, a Collie Springer Cross, who she and her wife, Chloe, adopted nine-years-ago when he was just eleven months old.
Peggy-Sue says: “Jack had a really tough start in life. We were his third home so at less than a year old he‘d been through a lot, but with us he found his forever home. He may be ten now, but he hasn’t slowed down, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. He loves to play, especially tug of war with his rope toys, and as he has so much energy he will be joining me for a lot of my training!
“I will be 45 this year so I decided I wanted to do something spectacular and also raise money, so I chose a trek of the Great Wall of China, and Dogs Trust as my charity as they care for thousands of dogs just like Jack every year and find them their perfect homes.”
Peggy-Sue will take on the challenging Trek in August, but she will be putting in hundreds of miles of training before then, as well as doing specific challenges, the first of which is later this month when she will take on the 42km Winter Walk Full Marathon in London. After that she will do the Bath Skyline 10k and in the summer the Race to the Stones 50km walk from Wantage to Avebury. Then she will leave Jack and Chloe behind to head to China for the nine-day adventure which will include five-days of hiking along the iconic structure, covering 47km.
“I’ve never flown that far let alone walked in such an unknown environment, but it will all be worth it,” says Peggy-Sue.
“We can’t imagine our life without Jack, and we know that thousands of dogs every year just need to be given a second, or third as in Jack’s case, chance to find the family that suits them best. I will be thinking of him every step of the way and know he’ll be waiting at the door wagging his tail as fast as it will go to welcome me home. That will spur me on!”
Tristan Lathey, Community Fundraising Officer at Dogs Trust, says: “I think what Peggy-Sue has committed to doing this year is incredible. Without supporters like Peggy-Sue we couldn’t do what we do for our dogs.
“Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity and we care for around 13,000 dogs every year. Whilst they are with us, we give them everything they need from training to treats and toys and veterinary care. We also support owners once they’ve adopted from us to help make sure they can live their best life with their new four-legged friend. We rely entirely on donations and fundraising events like Peggy-Sue is undertaking are crucial, so we want to say a huge thank you to her and hope we can welcome her to a Dogs Trust rehoming centre after the trek so she can meet some of the dogs she has helped.”
To support Peggy-Sue and to find out more about her fundraising please go to www.justgiving.com/page/lovablerogue
To find out more about Dogs Trust please visit www.dogstrust.org.uk
