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The Peru Trekkers of Dove House Hospice

Dove House Hospice is a charity which offers care for people in Hull and the East Riding who have a life limiting illness. It also offer support to the families of those affected. There are no charges made to people who need care and the running costs which run into millions each year are met by fundraisers and support from the local Health Authority.

Fundraisers are constantly looking for new ways to generate interest to help them raise the money required. One such endeavour has been almost two years in the planning. At the end of August a group of women are going to Peru on traverse the Inca Trail, a four day trek through some breathtaking scenery which will take them high into the mountains and eventually finish at Machu Picchu. The trek will be no walk in the park. The women will have to carry their own belongings, deal with the possibility of altitude sickness and cope with the sub-tropical climate in places.

The idea for the trip came about two years ago and although some of those originally involved have moved on and are no longer taking part, eight women are now signed up and have raised the money for the trip which in total will take two weeks. This is to allow them to become acclimatised to the altitude. During their 'downtime' they're hoping to get to meet some of the impoverished children who live in the area and are hoping to take books and materials for them.

Two of the women taking part in the trek came into the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Humberside studios to talk about their involvement. Shirley Page says Dove House hospice is very close to her heart. Her husband, Ian was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2005 and was cared for at the hospice before his death in October of the same year. She became a volunteer shortly after his death and two years ago began working on the reception.

As soon as she heard about the Inca Trail trip she just knew she had to put her name forward. Machu Picchu was always somewhere her late husband had wanted to visit and she's doing the walk in his memory. Accompanying Shirley is her daughter Nicola, which will make the experience a family affair.

Linda Boyeson was a volunteer at the Endsleigh Covent on Beverley Road, Hull and also a bereavement counsellor when Dove House first opened. She also had a professional involvement when working as a social worker for Hull City Council.Μύ

She joined the present fundraising team when a close friend began to suffer a life limiting illness. For a time her friend despite her illness was able to offer her services as a volunteer. As her illness progressed she too was given individual care and support to enable her to stay at home and maintain her independence during her final months.

Presently Linda's uncle is getting care and support from The Dove House Hospice, which also includes help for his close family and yet another reason why Linda gives up much of her free time to support its efforts.

The women are thankful of the support that local people and businesses offer and are hopeful that other people will come forward with offers of help to support this trip and other fundraising efforts. They're hopeful of getting the loan of video recording equipment so that they can record their extraordinary journey.

The women featured in the main picture from left to right are: Nicola Page, her mum Shirley, Lynn McKenzie, Linda Boyeson, Petra Van der Zande, Ann Ramsdale, Zelda Marshall and Tracy Coates.