Master Mont Blanc: Charlotte’s Thoughts

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Our trekkers have returned home after their hike across Mont Blanc 6th-10th September. The group have raised £24,000 (and rising) through their fundraising and sponsorships.

The trek involved travelling through France, Switzerland and Italy over three days. It was a challenging trek with steep inclines, rocky paths and sandy terrain. When asked if it was cold up in the mountains, our Herts Fundraising Manager Natasha laughed and said: ‘No! We got sun burnt!’

We caught up with Charlotte, one of our trekkers, to ask her about the trip. Charlotte took on the challenge after her father passed away from a sudden brain hemorrhage. She was away travelling at the time, so EHAAT’s early involvement meant she was able to get back to the UK and have a chance to say goodbye.

Did you have a training plan to prepare you?

I didn’t have a training plan as such to prepare me for the trek, I would just try to exercise and be healthy. I would go for jogs and walks when I could. I went on the training weekend a few months before hand in Eastbourne with some of the other trekkers. I found that really useful. I’d recommend going on this for anyone thinking of doing the trek. It makes meeting at the airport less daunting if you’ve already met some of your fellow trekkers before hand.

What did you do to hit the fundraising target?

Setting up a JustGiving page with an explanation of why I was doing the trek really helped. I then got as many friends and family to share the link to the page over Facebook. A big chunk of my fundraising was raised at an event that I held. This was a live music event at a local pub where I reached out to anyone that may be able to help me. The night included a raffle where I’d managed to get 28 different prizes on offer. This was done by a lot of emailing around and going into places and asking for any donations from local restaurants, spas, hair salons and everything else in between. The raffle raised £900 by itself that evening, and the total amount raised that evening was £1,440!

How did you find the trek? Did you face any big challenges?

The trek was challenging as I’d never done any trekking before hand. The team that we were trekking with were amazing and everyone pulled each other through when we were struggling. I met some really inspirational people. The biggest challenge that I faced was meeting everyone at the airport as that particular terminal was the last place that I saw my dad. He’s who I was doing the trek for, so it made it more difficult and emotional for me personally.

Trekkers at airport

What are you taking away from the experience?

I am taking many things away from this experience. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know everyone that I was trekking with. They are all amazing individuals that I would have probably never crossed paths with otherwise. I have made unique memories by throwing myself out of my comfort zone and seen things I would never have seen without doing the trek. It was very rewarding and you feel even better knowing you are doing it for a great cause that save lives everyday. I was mostly doing it for my dad as EHAAT gave him every chance he could of had, so I wanted to do everything I could for them in return.

Would you recommend the trek to another?

I would definitely recommend the trek to another.

It’s an amazing experience and a good opportunity to meet new people and to see things you wouldn’t have otherwise seen. It makes it better knowing that it is also for an amazing cause that save peoples lives everyday.

Even if you’re lucky enough to not have needed the Air Ambulance, it gives peace of mind to know that it is there for you and your loved ones in case the worst did ever happen and you did one day need it.

Would you like to add anything else?

The Air Ambulance gets no government funding so relies on the people of Essex and Hertfordshire to keep this amazing service going. It really does need people to help keep them flying and saving lives everyday.