A team of three supporters of local cancer charity We Hear You (WHY), including WHY CEO Lucy Kitchener and Fundraising Manager Ruth Knagg, have just completed a three-day trekking challenge in Iceland, raising more than £11,000 for the charity.

The trek took in Lake Þingvallavatn, Iceland's largest natural lake, Vörðuskeggi mountain pass and a geothermal valley, before some well-deserved downtime in Reykjavik, the world's most northerly capital city, a dip in the Blue Lagoon and a glimpse of the Northern Lights. Fundraising and Communications Manager Gemma Wilkes said:

"Our CEO Lucy Kitchener definitely celebrated her first anniversary with the charity in style, and we're so delighted with the fantastic amount Lucy, Ruth and Carys have raised for WHY. This trek isn't an easy undertaking and we imagine they're pretty tired, but we hope they've had an amazing personal experience - literally putting the 'fun' in fundraising! We already have four participants signed up for the Iceland trek in 2024, but places are still available for this once-in-a-lifetime trip in March 2024.'

Ruth Knagg said 'Visiting Iceland was awesome in the proper sense of the word. It's not just a cheesy marketing slogan when they call it the 'land of fire and ice' – totally unlike anywhere else I have ever been. The trekking was tough at times, one day slithering on and around patches of rock-hard ice to reach a hot river almost at the top of a mountain pass, where it seemed the most counter-intuitive thing to take off your clothes and put on a swimming costume! Truly amazing. By the time we had got dressed again afterwards (which was pretty darned speedy), our swimming costumes had frozen stiff in the bitter wind.

Our group were a wonderful, varied bunch of 16 people from many different walks of life and I am quite sure that we will all stay in touch after our experience. I would recommend this challenge to anyone looking for an adventure – and of course raise money for WHY!'

To find out more about the Northern Lights trek in March 2024, visit https://bit.ly/northern-lights-2024