PLEASE NOTE THE DATE OF THE TREK IS 04/09/ 2010 NOT THE 14/09/2010 AS STATED ABOVE THE  PICTURE.

TRIO READY TO STRIDE OUT FOR CHARITY

Soccer skills, scissors and studies will be put on one side this September when an intrepid trio will be hoping to raise thousands of pounds for a local children’s charity.

Pete Finnegan, daughter Ellie and family friend Justine Burgess will leave the autumn mists behind them and head off to the Sahara sun, trekking across the desert to raise money for Acorns Children’s Hospice.

Pete, of West Heath-based coaching company P&B Coaching, raised £15,000 when he walked the Great Wall of China for Acorns in 2000. Now, ten years later, he is hoping to boost Acorns’ fundraising effort once again.

“My father had died the year before the walk in China,” he explained. “He had been brought up in an orphanage and children’s charities had always been close to my heart.

“The walk in 2000 seemed the perfect way to raise money for an excellent cause and to celebrate what my father had done for me.

“Ten years on and I want to do it again – only this time with my daughter Ellie and Justine for company.”

While gym sessions will provide much of the training for Ellie, aged 17, and 21-year-old Justine, Pete’s daughter is also hoping her college course will prepare her for the marathon trek.

“My course at Redditch’s NEW College is quite fitness-based with plenty of circuits and military training,” Ellie explained. “I’m hoping to persuade all the students to donate a £1 and it would be good if some of the lecturers sponsored me.”

Justine works at Studio One in Stirchley – a salon owned by Pete’s wife, Sue. Her one-mile walk to work each day means she is the most seasoned walker in the trio.

“This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us,” Justine added. “And while I enjoy walking, it is going to be so much more difficult walking on sand.”

The Acorns Sahara Desert Trek will run from September 4-11 and anyone interested in sponsoring the team can donate on the following website