Chamber member, Jackie Allen, owner of business and marketing consultancy, The JA Consultancy, based at Crichiebank Business Centre, Inverurie, is joining five local women from Aberdeen city and shire, to walk the Great Wall of China, aiming to benefit local charities. Jackie and the ladies, who have all self-funded their trip, are set to pack their bags in September, travelling to Beijing on the 8th to begin the various stages of the nine-day adventure. The charities which will benefit are Cornerstone, Alzheimer’s Scotland, UCAN, Cash for Kids and CLAN Cancer Support.
Training has begun in earnest, including many jaunts up Bennachie and a “practice run” joining the Maggie’s Cultural Crawl in June, for the 35-km trek of the 6,000-km wall, which will be particularly challenging, due to the number of steps to be covered, as it can take an hour to trek just 1 km. Key highlights will be to conquer the 1,000 steps up to the wall at Mutianyu, culminating with the ascent of the ‘Heavenly Ladder’ and the unique opportunity to each place a brick in the wall as part of the ongoing repair process of The Great Wall, voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Jackie Allen, also a Board Director with CLAN Cancer Care since 2013, is going to bake 100 cupcakes to sell in her home town of Inverurie, along with some other fundraising activities, to help raise awareness for CLAN, who recently opened a new drop-in centre offering information and cancer support and a dedicated children, teens and families service base at Burnside Court, just off West High Street.
The ladies, who have dubbed their team, The China Girls, will enjoy some free time to explore Beijing’s famous sites such as the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, before returning to the UK.
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