I am doing this trek in memory of my beloved mother, Marie-José Lemarchand who passed away last January. It was a great privilege to be at her side the last 3 weeks of her life. I will never forget the very deep blue colour of her eyes just before she died. The colour changed to such an intense blue... and she looked so happy! Blue was her favourite colour. We both loved the idea of searching for Chopin’s blue note...

About the charity:

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 cancer charity in the UK, one of the very few in the world to offer residential courses. Pat talked about the legal battles that the charity had to face, because of their holistic approach, which was so revolutionary at the time. 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! King Charles III was also very much ahead of his time...

The support I got from this charity and from Pat Pilkington MBE, the co-founder was incredible. 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. My mother was also very impressed when she attended one of Pat's great talks. Pat used to say that the cancer journey is a hero's journey…

About the trek:
I have chosen to do the Inca Trail, Warmiwanuska Pass (4,200 m) in November 2022. (This trek was cancelled 3 times because of Covid). I did the Indian Himalayas trek 6 years ago for the same charity: www.justgiving.com/annahimalayastrek.  

Thank you for your donation!

Anna Basaldúa Lemarchand, MMus Perf, BMus (Hons)