In a few days we will embark on a daring adventure along ‘The Avenue of Volcanoes’ in Ecuador for charity – an immense challenge, with over 50 hrs of trekking at high altitude and summiting volcanoes over 15,500ft / 4,800m. Quite the feat for a group of women used to walking dogs around the park, with a cappuccino in hand!

When we signed up, we contemplated various worthy causes, never expecting the world, as we knew it, was about to turn upside down. The brutal attack on Israel and the Jewish people on October 7th has shaken our collective existence to the core. The aftermath of this attack and the subsequent war with Hamas demands our attention and financial support.

We’ve watched in horror at all the atrocities including the use of rape as a weapon of war. Day after day we’re deafened by the world’s silence in the face of indisputable evidence of heinous sexual crimes perpetrated against Israeli women, from organisations like the UN for Women and the Red Cross. #metoounlessyouareajew is not just a slogan – it is very real, isolating and frightening.

We’re using our trip to raise awareness and desperately needed funds to support the ‘Fund for Victims of Terror’ in Israel, which is expertly administered by the UJIA. The fund provides immediate financial assistance and psychological trauma support to victims and their families.

Our trip is fully self-funded, which means that every single penny we raise, without exception, will go to those who desperately need it.

We’re trekking to raise funds to help the victims who have survived an ordeal so unfathomable and so barbaric that it is beyond comprehension. These survivors - the beautiful young women who danced for life and peace at the Nova music festival, the young children traumatised from the brutal events they witnessed and those who were attacked and taken hostage from their homes, require specialised, long-term support and intervention.

Please give what you can to help the people of Israel rebuild their shattered lives. Together we can bring hope and healing.

Am Yisrael Chai

With heartfelt gratitude,

Carly, Hayley, Kim, Lauren, Natalie, Nicki, Sally, Sarah, Sharon, Vanessa xxxx