Fiona Somerville is fundraising for SOS Children's Villages UK

Fiona Somerville's Fundraising Page

Racing the Planet - Namibia

on 09/05/2009

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Raising money for

SOS Children's Villages UK

Charity Registration No. 1069204

For nearly 60 years, SOS Children has built communities around the world for children who have no one to turn to. By providing a home and a new mother in a purpose-built local Village, thousands of orphaned and abandoned children have been given a loving and secure family for life.

SOS Children also plays an important role in supporting the development of local communities by building and running nursery, primary and secondary schools; vocational training centres and medical centres, all of which are open to the children in our care and to those from the wider community. Where possible, we want to prevent child abandonment, so we offer skills, training, education, counselling and micro-loans to vulnerable families so can they can provide for their children in the long-term. SOS Children also provides emergency relief in situations of crisis and disaster.

Today, we care for more than 78,000 children in 490 unique SOS Children's Villages in 124 countries worldwide, and also support a further one million children and families in local communities.

Charity Registration No 1069204

Page owner

Fiona Somerville

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Raised so far: £8,115.00

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My story

UPDATE: It is now May 22nd and the race is not over yet but I am sitting in an internet cafe in Keetmanshoop, Namibia, having withdrawn. I am embarrassed and apologetic to have to admit this, but although I knew this was meant to be a challenge, this race turned out to be totally preposterous! Approx 20-25% of competitors have now withdrawn, the penultimate stage had to be cut from 28km to 20km because over half the competitors had to rough camp in the desert on the long stage and many were on IV drips because of dehydration - anyone following the website will have realised what the competitors have been put through. I withdrew knowing that given the "pace" (or lack of it) that I was setting (largely because of the incredibly rough ground), I was probably going to take 30 hrs + to complete the 100km section that we were notified of 2 days before the start of the race! (it was previously a more "manageable" 77km). Not only that, but the 100km day STARTED with a 2am wake up call, a 4am departure and a 450km bus ride. I knew I simply could not contemplate starting out on a stage that I actually considered dangerous. I will email everyone about this but THANK YOU for your support. I did visit SOS in Windhoek where I met a delightful group of people. I hope that my lack of success doesn't diminish the fact that I did TRY and that in the process all of us together raised an excellent amount of money for a great cause.

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In May 2009 I will be participating in RacingThePlanet: Namibia. This is a 7 day, 250km race in southern Namibia encompassing the Fish River Canyon. The course will begin around Keetmanshoop, in a desert region across one of the toughest trails in southern Africa. We then traverse mountain ranges and enter the Wegdraai Valley, passing through slot canyons and over the Hunsberg Mountain Range into the Arimas Valley. Finally we will cross the Rekvlakte sand flats ending in the town of Luderitz, but not before facing the Skeleton Coast and 30 meter high sand dunes. In addition to covering this difficult ground all competitors have to carry all their own food and equipment for the entire period.

In preparation for this I am walking the UK's North Downs Way (160km) and South Downs Way (210km) and a lot of Hong Kong's trails so by mid May at the end of the race, my legs will have carried me about 1000km in 3 months!

I confess I won't be breaking any time records - my aim is to complete rather than compete! However, given that I really do think this is quite a challenge, I would like to get people to join me in making a contribution to an excellent charity which I already support - SOS Children's Villages. I already sponsor two children through SOS, one of whom is in Windhoek, Namibia and it would be great to have something to show for it all at the end of what will be a gruelling experience! See www.4deserts.com for more info on the race.

Many thanks for your support!

Fiona

	Well done Fiona! Glad you've made the decision to come back in one piece! Donation by Dionne Tai 27/05/09	£100.00
	Valiant effort Fiona, we know you put your heart & soul into it for a great cause and that's what counts the most! Donation by Eban Hong Kong 27/05/09	£500.00
	Donation by Wendy & John Farrant 27/05/09	£40.00
	I can think of a few mornings when I could have done with an IV drip!! Well done on getting as far as you did. Donation by Bill O'Rahilly 26/05/09	£200.00
	I don't care at all if you finished it, the very thought of entering deserves huge credit. Hope to see you soon in Singapore xx Donation by Lindsay Jones 25/05/09	£100.00
	Well done...! Even if you didn't quite make it onto a IV drip!! Donation by Piers Bishop 22/05/09	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Best of luck. Great photo! Donation by James Wheeler 22/05/09	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	This is no way to get a tan!!! Well done, you are marvellous as ever. xx Donation by Ailsa Sheldrake 16/05/09	£100.00
	Good luck! Donation by James Riley 15/05/09	£100.00
	Always knew you were stark staring mad. Donation by rouge dragon 14/05/09	£75.00 + £21.15 Gift Aid
	Good luck Fiona, it's very inspiring what you're doing! Hope conditions are good & a little angel watches over you. Will await news/pics. Lol, Emma x Donation by Emma Cotton 12/05/09	£25.00
	Heroic endeavour. Good luck. Donation by Sam and Annie Hanbury 12/05/09	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	Wishing you the best of luck on your journey!! Donation by Mark Beveridge 11/05/09	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Good luck! Fiona, we know u can do it! Donation by Tily 11/05/09	£100.00
	Fantastic effort and a great cause. An inspiration! Good luck. Love Lorelei Donation by Lorelei Fleming 11/05/09	£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid
	Congratulations even for just starting on this quest! All best, Michele Donation by Michele Bina 10/05/09	£200.00 + £56.41 Gift Aid
	I read about you via the Pangolin newsletter - what an amazing thing you are doing. Crazy really, but very, very admirable. Good luck. Donation by Jeremy Whitley 08/05/09	£25.00 + £7.05 Gift Aid
	Good Luck - Enjoy - K xxx Donation by Kirsteen Morrison 08/05/09	£200.00 + £56.41 Gift Aid
	Good luck from all of us here - we think you are mad and are exhausted just thinking about it! Donation by Eban London 06/05/09	£300.00
	Good luck. We will be thinking of you in the desert!! Donation by Julie & Geoff 06/05/09	£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid
	Go Fiona! Sounds amazing. Good luck! Donation by Emma Penny 06/05/09	£25.00
	Cannot believe it's possible - but then you've never said no to a challenge - good luck! Donation by Andrew Farrant 05/05/09	£25.00
	you certainly don't do things by halves! bon chance. Donation by Roger Denby-Jones 05/05/09	£100.00 + £28.21 Gift Aid
	Have a great adventure, take lots of photos. Donation by Simon Robertson 05/05/09	£100.00
	Enjoy! Donation by Kes Visuvalingam 04/05/09	£200.00
	Good luck Donation by Barbara Cochrane 04/05/09	£50.00
	Well done - will miss you in HK when I am there in May - pack those sand goggles! Donation by Juliet Pegler 04/05/09	£50.00
	Although you say you are going to take it easy, I don’t believe that for a minute. You are a winner by taking part, you don’t need to win the event.x Donation by Simon Waterson 04/05/09	£200.00
	Mad. But good luck. Donation by James Hay 04/05/09	£100.00
	Go Fi, Go! Hong Kong will be with you in spirit! Good luck.!Tony Donation by Tony Soughan 03/05/09	£100.00

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* Total raised online:	£8,115.00
Offline donations:	£0.00
Gift Aid plus supplement:	£400.51

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