Many thanks to my very generous donors from Japan, Russia, Georgia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Norway, USA, Canada, Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, Greece, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Malta and UK. Special thanks to Felicity Biggart, Jacqueline Jung, for sharing 5 fundraising events with her wonderful Chanel Trunk Show, Tilly Sheeran, for lending me part of the trekking equipment, Nick Brandon, for giving a free Alexander masterclass to my piano students, Penny Croal, for giving a free introductory workshop of EFT, Rochelle Mortier, for driving all the way to London to do a free tea tasting and to my lovely students.

Penny Brohn was diagnosed with cancer in 1979 and went to Germany for treatment, having to leave her 3 young children for weeks, with her husband. Pat Pilkington offered to stay with her. After that life-changing experience, Penny was determined to find a new way of helping other people with cancer,

'a way that offered care for the mind, the spirit, the emotions, the heart and the soul'.

Both friends opened the first and most holistic cancer charity in the UK, one of the very few in the world to offer residential courses. Pat always said how much HRH The Prince of Wales (Royal Patron) had done to support the charity in difficult times, from the very beginning!

I was very lucky to attend Pat Pilkington's inspiring talks and her mind blowing Book Club. Pat wrote the most beautiful and encouraging emails and prayed for everybody she met. I promised Pat that I would do a trek for her charity, but kept postponing it... After the sudden death from cancer of one of my best friends, Annemieke, who loved India and was very spiritual, the Dalai Lama trek seemed the only option.


Anna Basaldúa Lemarchand
MMus (Perf), BMus (Hons)